Bird Notes and News 



53 



tide to rise around him so as to almost 

 lift him off his feet. On inland waters he 

 takes heavy toll of fish inimical to the 

 salmon and the trout. In our river, the 

 Nar, shoals of dace are to be met at almost 

 every turn ; which not only enter into 

 competition with the trout for their daily 

 food, but actually " worry and annoy " 

 them. To the fisherman they are most 

 vexatious, rising round his fly, but rarely 

 taking it ; and when they do he hooks 

 them with a growl. They rush upstream at 

 his approach, scaring every fish within 

 reach, and crying " cave " as they go. 

 Dace, like most coarse fish, fall an easier 

 prey to the Heron than the keen-sighted 

 and more nimble trout. Then there is the 

 " Miller's Thumb " which he takes as it 

 lurks among the pebbles. Into the capacious 

 maw of this little fish, ova and helpless 

 newborn fry far too often go. WTiat is to 

 be said about eels, one of the Heron's most 

 favourite and frequent quarries ? Surely 

 we know the eel to be an insatiable devourer 

 of all fish it comes across, and is powerful 

 enough to master. Then there is the pike, 

 a veritable scourge in trout and salmon 

 rivers, that lives from infancy on other 

 fish. The toll the Heron takes, where 

 permitted to exist, on the ranks of the pike 

 that are ever on the prowl among the 

 rushes and water weeds m stream, pond, 

 or ditch, must be great indeed. Fortunate 



are the owners of those streams, as in the 

 case of our pretty trout stream here, that 

 are free from this fresh-water shark. 



Are fishermen to degenerate into mere 

 pothunters, with but one idea, the weight 

 and number of their captures ? A fisher- 

 man, imbued with true sporting instinct, 

 is sure to be more or less of a naturalist, and 

 observer of the creatures round him. He 

 knows what they are, and their habits too, 

 whether they be bird, beast or creeping 

 thing. To him the absence of such a 

 feature in the landscape as the Heron is a 

 matter of regret. He feels there is a gap, 

 a something wanting in the scene of his 

 day's sport, which he does not forget when 

 over the evening calumet of peace he recounts 

 the different incidents of the day. 



When we hear of a Board of Conservators 

 engaged in discussing the advisability of 

 offering a reward for the extermination of 

 such a grand bird as the Heron, are we not 

 entitled to say that there are other rights 

 besides those of Conservators and fishing 

 sjTidicates ? Has not the public a right in 

 objecting to the destruction of our British 

 fauna, amongst which the Heron holds a 

 prominent and famiHar place ? 



All true lovers of the beauties and attrac- 

 tions of the country should see to it that 

 among rare and disappearing forms the 

 Heron may not be permitted to hold 

 a place. 



A flock of between 200 and 300 PaUas's 

 Sandgrouse has been seen in North Yorkshire, 

 and Mr, Riley Fortune, in a timely letter to 

 the papers (November 23rd), reminds the 

 public that these birds are protected by 

 a special Act of Parliament ; also " the 



Yorkshire Naturalists' Union Protection Com- 

 mittee will take immediate action against 

 any infringement of the Act, as they are 

 determined to do all in their power to prevent 

 the killing of these or any other rare birds 

 which visit the county." 



