COMMON HERON. 145 
ORDER HERODIONES. 
FAMILY ARDEID&. 
COMMON HERON. 
ARDEA CINEREA, Linneus. 
Crane, Yarn, Yern, Varn, Longnia. 
Until quite recent times there were heronries on 
many of the large estates in Cheshire; the meres, trout- 
streams, and marlpits, and the shallow waters of the 
estuaries, furnishing an abundant supply of food for the 
voracious birds. Owing to a variety of causes, such as 
the felling of the nesting-trees, increased fish-preserva- 
tion, and the fact that the bird is considered a great prize 
by every prowling gunner, Herons have been greatly 
reduced in numbers, and at the present time only two 
colonies—at Eaton and Tabley—exist within the county 
borders. In spite of this fact, the bird may be met 
with in all parts of the county: we have seen as many 
as eight or nine at one time on the saltings near Burton 
Point, and we seldom visit any of the meres without 
seeing one or more feeding in the shallows. We fre- 
quently flush Herons from the trout-streams in the 
woodlands of the Plain, and Mr. N. Neave tells us that 
he has often met with single birds in the less-frequented 
cloughs among the hills near Macclesfield. 
Mr. R. Newstead, in his exhaustive paper on ‘The 
Heron and Heronries of Cheshire and North Wales,’ 
says of the colony at Eaton Park, the seat of the Duke 
K 
