CHAPTE Riad 
AT A HERONRY NEAR LONDON—THIRD WEEK 
IN APRIL 
HERONS no longer afford sport for falconry 
as they used to do in what we always call the 
‘good old times.’ So they have not been 
strictly preserved. Guns and ammunition are 
cheap nowadays, and sportsmen (save the 
mark !) are numerous. Each winter the taxi- 
dermist over the way has told me that he has 
had some herons brought in to stuff. If by 
chance an unwary bird in the low lying 
country not far away, to which they resort 
for feeding, has offered the great target of 
its wings and body tothe bird-slayer—a mark 
too large to be easily missed !—the trigger has 
been unhesitatingly pulled, resulting in the 
destruction of one more of these beautiful 
birds. And what for? To have it, whether 
a male or female, or even a young bird with 
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