COMMON HERON. 167 



Shropshire. — Altingham, 30 or 40 nests; Ellesmere ; 

 Plowden ; Halston ; Oakley. 



Somersetshire. — Picton ; Brockley Woods ; Knowle House, 

 near Dunster ; Halsewell, near Bridgewater, 30 or 40 nests. 



Staffordshire. — Swithamley ; Trentliam ; Betley. 



Suffolk. — Cavenham and Chippenham ; Henham Hall ; 

 Friston, on the Orwell ; Orwell Park. 



Surrey. — CobhamPark; Ashley Park, Walton-on-Thames; 

 scattered nests in Richmond Park. 



Sussex. — Windmill Hill, Hurstmonceaux, 50 nests in 

 1879 ; Sowden's Wood, Brede, a very large colony ; Parham 

 Park, upwards of 100 nests. 



Warwickshire. — Warwick Castle ; Coombe Abbey; Ragley 

 Park, near Alcester. 



Westmoreland. — Dalham Tower ; Rydal Lake ; Ingmire 

 Hall. 



Wdtshire. — Bowood, near Melksham ; Longleat, near 

 Bath ; Longford Park, near Salisbury. 



Worcestershire. — Wedgwood Park, near Droitwich. 



Yorkshire. — Kildale-in-Cleveland ; Newton Hall, near 

 Malton ; Harewood Park, near Leeds ; Eshton Hall, near 

 Gargrave ; Browsholme Hall, near Clitheroe ; Nostell 

 Priory ; Morby Park, near York, about 50 nests (W. E. 

 ClarkeJ. 



In Scotland there are comparatively few large heronries, 

 but the small ones are so numerous that for a list of them 

 the reader must be referred to Mr. Harting's paper, which 

 also contains some interesting particulars respecting many 

 of the colonies in Ireland. In the latter, the majority are in 

 the counties of Cork, Down, Dublin, Mayo, and Waterford, 

 but the species is so generally distributed that it would be 

 futile to attempt the enumeration of its breeding-places. 



The food of the Heron consists of fish, reptiles, small 

 mammalia, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, and insects. When 

 the Heron has only itself to provide for, it usually fishes late 

 in the evening and on moon-light nights, and very early in 

 the morning. Its appetite is voracious ; but on the whole 

 its services in the destruction of pike and other coarse fresh- 



