Northern Observations of Inland Birds 219 



the same way. Long ago this gave rise to the beHef that 

 the scent of the bird's legs was attractive to fish, and 

 anglers used to flavour their baits with the skins of the 

 bird's shins ! I venture to think, however, that if the 

 human angler stood bare-legged and motionless in the 

 water for a long enough space of time, he would find 

 little fishes darting at and nibbling his own unprotected 

 members, so that it might have saved the erstwhile angler 

 some trouble if he had flavoured his bait by contact with 

 his own shins. 



I believe herons travel great distances for their food. 

 Outside the nesting season, when they have no home 

 ties, it is probable that they live more or less like otters 

 — that is, each bird has an extensive range with many 

 angling points, and over this it travels with some regularity. 

 Wandering thus, they frequent certain woods for roosting 

 purposes, and very often are to be found in companies 

 of eight or nine shortly after dusk. They fish by night, 

 however, as well as by day, this being true of most water- 

 fowl, and like many predatory animals they take their 

 sleep when in the mood — that is when filled — be it night 

 or day. Where and when food is abundant they seem 

 to prefer to fish during the day and to rest at night-time. 

 The herons used to visit my locality in Yorkshire in as 

 great numbers during the spring, when they were congre- 

 gated at their heronries, as at other seasons when the 

 population was more or less scattered. Yet the nearest 

 heronry was thirty miles away as the crow flies, and it 

 was believed by the villagers that all our herons came 

 from that point. The heronry lay to the north, and 

 certainly it was noticeable that the birds were generally 

 flying direct north or direct south, coming or going, though 

 the fact that the valley ran north and south may have 

 influenced this. One bird, which was flying north towards 

 the heronry was shot during the nesting season, and on 



