62 THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



of the water even will not despise the young coot or 

 water-hen, or even the young of the water-vole. He has 

 also a particular relish for eels. Drayton says : 



" The herns 



Can fetch with their long necks, out of rush and reed, 

 Snigs fry and yellow frogs, whereon they often feed." 



And Burns, in his " Elegy on Captain Henderson : " 



"Ye fisher herons watching eels." 

 And Leyden : 



"Long-necked heron, dread of nimble eels" 



Pontoppidan states that the heron likes small eels in 

 preference to large, for this reason : they can be swallowed, 

 give nourishment, pass through the intestines all uninjured, 

 and then be swallowed again, and so on ad infinitum. 

 This idea was prevalent in Ireland for a long time. How- 

 ever, herons, in their gluttony, sometimes endeavour to 

 swallow large eels, much to their cost, as recorded in the 

 fourth edition of Yarrell, where there is a drawing of a 

 heron having pierced a large eel, which has twisted round 

 the bird's neck, and so strangled it. 



The heron is inclined to strike at any moving object 

 passing within range. A few years ago we examined a 

 fine salmon of twenty pounds found dead in the river, 

 death having evidently been caused by the powerful beak 

 of this bird having penetrated the brain. 



The heron was formerly in great request, and very 

 strictly preserved, not only for the purpose of sport, but 

 for the requirements of the table. It was one of the chief 

 pursuits in falconry, and gave more exciting flights than 

 any other bird : 



" The hern 



Upon the bank of some small purling brook 

 Observant stands, to take his scaly prize, 

 Himself another's game." 



As an article of food it was much prized, and held a 

 place in all great feasts. Walter Scott, in " The Lay of 



