450 ARBEA CINEREA. 



Northamptonshire. About 1815, a pair or two used to nestle 

 in a tall Scotch fir tree, in Mere-Hill Wood, near to Lough- 

 borough ; but the keeper shot them down. I recollect taking 

 eggs from thence, and I have seen young birds brought from 

 the same place. 



" Lord Warwick's heronry is not more than a mile from 

 the town from which he takes his title, and is situated 

 within the confines of a spacious park, well wooded with oak, 

 elm, ash, and horse-chestnut. The classic Avon, whose 

 glassy stream has been sung by the immortal Shakspere, 

 flows silently along, laving castle and cottage, and bearing 

 on its bosom the joyous Coot, the flirting Water-hen, the 

 wary Wild Duck, and the stately Swan. Let us seat our- 

 selves beneath this wide-spreading beech, and inhale the 

 breath of summer morn. Yon towers betoken wealth, splen- 

 dour, and fame. Yet there dwell not in the venerable 

 mansion of the renowned Warwicks hearts so happy as those 

 that now surround us, nor are there heard in those turrets 

 voices so sweet as those that mingle their morning songs in 

 gratitude to their great Creator. The Cushat cooes lovingly 

 to his mate, the note of the Green Woodpecker is heard, 

 and those wandering Nuthatches, Creepers, Tits, and Fly- 

 catchers, as they flit past us, enliven the scene. Not far off 

 the Kestril hangs on tremulous wing, and over head a pair 

 of Buzzards are describing their ever-varied circles. A lake 

 of considerable size adorns the park, part of which is open 

 and exposed, while the rest has its banks overgrown with 

 shrubs, brambles, and rushes. The Heron appears partial 

 to the elm, although we find nests on the horizontal boughs 

 of the cedar, pine, and spruce. On some of the elms are 

 twelve or fourteen nests, large and unsightly ; some very 

 loosely put together, but others more firmly compacted. 

 When the nests are on the elm, they are on those trees 

 which are lofty and of great magnitude ; but when on the 

 cedar, Scotch fir, and spruce, they are not at a greater height 

 than twenty-five or thirty feet. Mr. Wallis, head game- 

 keeper to Lord Warwick, informs me that the Heron some- 

 times nestles on the ground. He says that in 1839 a pair 

 built their nest in a thick sedge beside the lake. It was 



