THE HERON. 381 



wary as the pie itself. Formerly, in this country, the heron was a 

 protected bird, in order that it might afford pastime to the great ; 

 but, now-a-days (as little or nothing remains of falconry, except a title, 

 which introduces the finger and thumb of the bearer into the public 

 purse), the heron is abandoned to its fate, and the fish-pond owners 

 may waylay it with impunity, whenever an opportunity offers. 



I attribute the bad character which the heron has with us for 

 destroying fish, more to erroneous ideas than to any well-authenti- 

 cated proofs that it commits extensive depredations on our store- 

 ponds. Under this impression, which certainly has not hitherto been 

 to my disadvantage, I encourage this poor persecuted wader to come 

 and take shelter here ; and I am glad to see it build its nests in the 

 trees which overhang the water, though carp, and tench, and many 

 other sorts of fish are there in abundance. Close attention to its 

 habits has convinced me that I have not done wrongly. Let us 

 bear in mind that the heron can neither swim nor dive ; wherefore 

 the range of its depredations on the finny tribe must necessarily be 

 very circumscribed. In the shallow water only can it surprise the 

 fish ; and even there, when we see it standing motionless, and sup- 

 pose it to be intent on striking some delicious perch or passing tench, 

 it is just as likely that it has waded into the pond to have a better 

 opportunity of transfixing a water-rat lurking at the mouth of its hole, 

 or of gobbling down some unfortunate frog which had taken refuge 

 on the rush-grown margin of the pool. The water-rat may appear a 

 large morsel to be swallowed whole ; but so great are the expansive 

 powers of the heron's throat, that it can gulp down one of these 

 animals without much apparent difficulty. As the ordinary food of 

 this bird consists of reptiles, quadrupeds, and fish, and as the herons 

 can only catch the fish when they come into shallow water, I think 

 we may fairly consider this wader as not very injurious to our pro- 

 perty ; especially when we reflect for a moment on the prodigious 

 fecundity of fish. Take the roach for example. It swarms here in 

 multitudes sufficient to satisfy the cravings of every heron and every 

 cormorant in Europe. 



Should the lords of the adjacent fishponds ever read the contents 

 of this paper, I would fain hope that their animosity against the heron 

 will be diminished, and that they will order their gamekeepers to 



