The Heronry at Vinney Ridge. 273 



wood, he saw, after waiting about half an hour, the hen return, 

 and had no doubts as to its identity. An endeavour, hpw- 

 ever, to secure her in the hole, Avith the butterfly-net which 

 he had with him, was unsuccessful. He was afraid to leave 

 the eggs, as some woodmen were working close by, and so lost 

 any other opportunity of making the capture. The eggs, now 

 in my collection, were four in number, one being slightly 

 addled, and are the only specimens ever taken in England. 

 They were laid on the bare rotten wood, the bird finding the 

 hole sufficiently large, as Mr. Farren had widened it when 

 taking the previous eggs. It is, however, remarkable that 

 such a shy bird should have built in such a scattered and thin 

 wood as Pignel, close to a public thorougfare, and where the 

 woodmen had for some time past been constantly felling timber. 

 But what gives the Forest so much of its character is the 

 number of herons who have lately established themselves in 

 various parts. You can scarcely go along a stream-side -with- 

 out surprising some one or two, which, as you approach, 

 flap their large slate-coloured wings, and fly off with a rolling, 

 hea"sy motion, circling in the air as they go. Down at Exbuiy, 

 at the mouth of the Beaulieu river, they may be seen in com- 

 panies of threes and fours, wading in the shallows, probing 

 their long bills into the mud and -sand ; and then, as the tide 

 comes up, making off to the freshwater ponds. They are, 

 however, I am afraid, rather persecuted, as they never long 

 here remain at one breeding station. They first took up their 

 abode in Old Burley Wood, and then removed to Wood 

 Fidley, and subsequently to Denney, and finally to Vinney 

 Ridge. In 1861, fifty pairs, at least, must have built in its tall 

 beeches. On a fine early spring morning, a long grey line of 

 them would perch on the neighbouring green of Dame Slough, 



N N 273 



