ARDEIDE. ok 
an ornament to the pond and the lawn; it was also 
a great terror to some of our lady visitors. 
Although the Heron does not generally take to 
deep water of its own will, still when it does so it is 
a very good swimmer. Its appearance on the water 
is rather curious, as it swims with its back low, 
almost level with the surface, and its long neck 
perfectly erect. 
The food of the Heron consists principally of 
fish of any sort (perch it will eat without making 
any difficulty about the prickly back-fin), frogs, water 
rats, the young of water birds, ducks and moorhens, 
&c., are not safe from it. When fishing the Heron 
usually stands with its neck stretched forward at an 
acute angle to the water and the beak turned nearly 
straight down, and in this position it will stand, 
with most wonderful patience, waiting for some un- 
fortunate fish to come within its reach. Yarrell says 
when fishing the Heron stands with its head drawn 
back towards the shoulders; but this seems to me 
inaccurate, as I have watched, through a glass, 
Herons fishing in the Teign and the Exe (where 
they are numerous) many times, and they do not 
appear to me ever to adopt any other attitude than 
that above described: it certainly is not an elegant 
attitude, and that perhaps is the reason why it is 
seldom, if ever, attempted by birdstutfers: I have, 
however, seen them draw back their head, much in 
the manner described by Yarrell, immediately before 
2H2 
