20 AT A HERONRY NEAR LONDON 
are of a grey or slate colour, and have long 
legs which are kept stretched out behind them 
as they fly, and long beaks and necks too, 
the heads being kept well retracted. These 
are the herons, and the heronry, covering two 
or three acres, is in the middle of the island 
beneath them. Sworn enemies are _ the 
herons and the rooks, and it is strange that 
they should build so close to each other, but 
doubtless the site 45 very Suiable’ om Gorm 
kinds of birds, and it is preserved. We hear 
them evincing their mutual hatred in loud, 
angry notes when one approaches the other. 
The nests of the rooks are systematically 
pulled down by the keeper and his men each 
year, or the heronry, not the rookery be it 
noted, would soon cease to exist. This shows 
how aggressive these birds, though the smaller, 
. are, but it is also in keeping with the markedly 
solitary Habits ot the heron.” The 100k 
being so much smaller are naturally swifter 
and quicker in their movements than the 
stately herons, and so can turn sharply in the 
air, and descend upon them hawk like, 
