YOUNG HERON. 25 



there, I left the place for a couple of hours, and 

 then cautiously retracing my steps, fastened my 

 horse to a shrub at some distance, and taking off 

 my shooting coat, from one of the capacious pock- 

 ets of which the head and neck of the living 

 heron* protruded, I slung my spy-glass over my 



* This bird reached home in safety, none the worse 

 for his rough ride and uncomfortable saddle. During 

 the first three months his diet consisted exclusively of fish; 

 indeed, he showed a repugnance to any other kind of food. 

 He is in excellent health, and possesses as much liberty as 

 a partially clipped wing will permit him to enjoy. Al- 

 though capable of taking short flights, he evinces no 

 inclination to wander beyond the precincts of a large stable- 

 yard, nor any uneasiness at the approach of dogs or 

 strangers. 



He lives on familiar terms with three tame ravens, 

 who occasionally pass through the gate, or perch on the 

 roofs of the outbuildings. He is now even more omnivo- 

 rous than his sable friends, but condescends to partake 

 of their meals, devouring raw and cooked meat, bread, 

 boiled potatoes, and the offal of hares and rabbits, with 

 indiscriminate voracity. 



When his appetite happens to be unusually fastidious, 

 he stations himself on the edge of a small tank, in 

 which a constant supply of live fish used formerly to be 

 kept for his especial use, and throws many a wistful 

 glance on the now vacant water ; but his favourite posi- 

 tion is in a corner of the yard, cheek-by-jowl with 

 a large watch-dog. Here, with his head drawn back 



c 



