THE NIGHT HERON 169 



night herons. Whenever any of the crows of the 

 neighbourhood has nothing else to do, he says to a 

 kindred spirit : *' Come, let us worry the night 

 herons." Whereupon the pair — Arcades umbo — go 

 and pretend to show the herons how to build a 

 nest. 



When, my friends, you consider the untidiness and 

 filthiness of the heron's nest, you will be able to appre- 

 ciate to the full the audacity of the latest falsehood 

 circulated by the plume trade — to wit, the egret plucks 

 out its nuptial plumes, which constitute the " osprey " 

 of commerce, and weaves these into the nest to make 

 it more cosy ; and, after the young ones are fledged, 

 some honest fellow visits the nest and disentangles the 

 plumes therefrom ! 



A baby heron is a disgustingly ugly creature. It is 

 a living caricature. Patches of long hair-like feathers 

 are studded, apparently haphazard, over its otherwise 

 naked body and give it an indescribably grotesque 

 appearance. It looks like a bird in its dotage. If you 

 lift a young heron out of the nest you will probably 

 find that his "corporation" is distended to bursting- 

 point, and, if 3^ou do not handle him carefully, a 

 half-digested frog will, as likely as not, drop out of 

 him ! 



The farther north one goes the earlier in the year 

 does the night heron breed. In Kashmir the nesting 

 season is in full swing in March. In the Punjab April 

 and May are the nesting months ; in Madras the birds 

 do not begin to build until July ; and I have seen eggs 

 at the end of August. It is my belief that the night 



