162 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



county, the seat of Earl Jerse}^,* and another at 

 Wanstead Park, in the adjoinmg countj^ of Essex, 

 the property of Lord Cowley ; and it is no doubt to 

 these colonies that the stragglers which we see 

 belong. 



I have elsewhere observed that the Regent's Canal 

 Company draw off the water from the reservoirs of 

 Kingsbury and Elstree, in order to supply the lochs 

 on the canal, and wdien the water has been much 

 reduced by this means, as well as b}^ evaporation 

 and want of rain, the Herons are in their glory. 

 They are then enabled to wade out to some distance, 

 and regale themselves among the roach and eels 

 with which the reservoirs abound. One day in 

 November, 1864, a full-grown young Heron was 

 found at Kingsbury firmly held by a fishing line, the 

 hook fixed in its throat, and the line twisted round 

 its legs ; it had swallowed a bait set for pike. 



A favourite haunt of the Heron is the Well Springs 

 at Kingsbury, before mentioned. Besides the brook 

 there is a quiet sheltered pond, and it is not an 

 uncommon thing to find two or three Herons fishing 

 there in the evening. 



Their feeding-time is usually at daj^break and 

 dusk. In the middle of the day I have seen three 

 or four in company standing out in the middle of a 



* There was formerly also a heronry at Oatlands Park, 

 near Shepperton, but this no longer exists. 



