THE HERONRY. 11 



eleven or twelve heronries left in this country, 

 it is to be hoped that every care will be taken 

 of the one referred to. Severe penalties were 

 formerly imposed on any person killing a heron, 

 and I believe that the laws enacting them have 

 not been repealed; at present we find herons 

 amongst the trophies nailed by keepers upon 

 some stunted oak tree, in the midst of magpies, 

 jays, owls and polecats, although the damage they 

 do to fish-ponds is comparatively trifling, feeding, 

 as they chiefly do, upon frogs, snails, water-rats 

 and small eels. In the breeding season, when they 

 have to provide for their ravenous young, they 

 may attack the larger sort of fish, but the interest 

 which must always be attached to this royal bird, 

 connected as it is with the chivalry and ancient 

 sports of this country, ought to be sufficient to pro- 

 tect it from wanton destruction, independently of 

 its own wild and picturesque character. 



In order to ascertain, as far as we were able, the 

 extent of destruction committed by these perse- 

 cuted birds in the breeding season, my companion, 

 whose thirst for information on subjects connected 

 with natural history is of no ordinary degree, 

 procured a young heron about two-thirds grown, 

 which had fallen from the nest and been killed. 

 On dissecting it, the stomach was found very 

 large and much distended. It contained fish- 

 bones, one fish, probably, from its appearance, a 



