380 THE HERON. 



THE HERON. 



OF all the large wild birds which formerly were so common in this 

 part of Yorkshire, the heron alone can now be seen. The kite, the 

 buzzard, and the raven have been exterminated long ago by our 

 merciless gamekeepers. Ignorant of the real habits of birds, and 

 even bent on slaughter, these men exercise their baneful calling with 

 a severity almost past belief. No sooner have they received from 

 government their shooting licence, than out they go with the gun, 

 and, under one pretext or other, they kill almost every bird which 

 comes in their way. Our game laws are at the bottom of all this 

 mischief. 



" Illis, non ssevior ulla 



Pestis, et ira Deum, Stygiis sese extulit undis." 



" Than these, a greater pest our statesmen never 

 Sent from their old burnt house near London river." 



Kites were frequent here in the days of my father ; but I myself 

 have never seen one near the place. In 1813, I had my last sight 

 of the buzzard. It used to repair to the storm-blasted top of an 

 ancient oak, which grows near the water's edge ; and many and many 

 a time again have I gone that way, on purpose to get a view of it. 

 In the spring of that year it went away to return no more ; and, 

 about the same period, our last raven was shot on its nest by a 

 neighbouring gentleman. 



In vain I now look for any of these interesting birds in our sur- 

 rounding woods. They have been declared great destroyers of 

 game ; they have, in consequence, suffered persecution ; and, like 

 the family of poor Charlie Stuart (God rest his soul !), they no longer 

 appear on their native land, in this district, where once they graced 

 our rural scenery. 



The heron, however, notwithstanding this hostile feeling, has 

 managed to survive its less fortunate neighbours. Always on the 

 look-out, it sees in time the threatened danger, and generally con- 

 trives to avoid it ; for persecution has rendered it fully as shy and 



