222 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



fisher.* The animal lay dead and considerably mutilated 

 almost at the point at which it had fallen. 



Raiding a heronry must indeed be a very dangerous 

 undertaking for any creature of the wild, as the adult 

 birds can strike accurately and hard, aiming generally at 

 the eye. Even the young in the nest are quite well able 

 to defend themselves in this way, and it goes without 

 saying that it is very unwise to allow a dog to approach 

 a wounded bird. A wounded heron sits back on its 

 tail, facing the foe, and his strike is as quick as the strike 

 of a rattlesnake. 



It has been said that outside the nesting season the 

 birds congregate at certain favourite woods to roost, and 

 generally in small numbers. Beech and fir woods are 

 their favourites, and preferably placed on the mountain 

 side or the crest of a hill, so that the birds, going to 

 roost, can perch themselves on the topmost branches, 

 and survey the whole panorama to make sure no foe is 

 about. Herons seem always to fear attack from the air, 

 and this habit of alighting high up in the timber and 

 surveying the surrounding country is very characteristic 

 of them. Indeed they appear to have personal look-out 

 posts, just as they have personal fishing stations, but to 

 proceed with my story, the birds frequent the same 

 forests for roosting purposes during autumn and winter 

 year after year, just as they frequent the same ** heronries." 

 One forest I know is called in the Gaelic tongue the 

 " Place of Evil Beings," and doubtless this name, like 

 the forest itself, is of considerable antiquity. It is a 

 curious fact that, though to the best of my knowledge 

 herons have never nested there, they roost in the centre 

 of the wood in varying numbers the whole year round. 

 The birds have an immense and surprising range of 



* One of the largest members of the weasel family — midway between the 

 marten and the wolverine. 



