226 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



dread of attack from the sky, and when standing at its 

 fishing station or perched in the tree tops the bird will 

 be seen constantly to look upwards and about, taking 

 stock of every voyager of the upper air. A friend of 

 mine who watched one for over an hour on the River 

 Wharf e told me that it took stock of its surroundings, 

 especially overhead, on an average of once in every 

 twenty-four seconds — a characteristic which it shares 

 with the grouse. Certainly the heron must have lived 

 a very harassed life in the days when falconry was popular, 

 and apparently the dread remembrance of those times 

 still lives. 



