260 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



movements, and may finally bring him to bag, and 

 study him at table with lemon and cayenne. We 

 speak from experience. We have made many a 

 successful stalk, and can confidently state that a 

 young Heron, nicely roasted, with the adjuncts above 

 named, forms a dish by no means to be despised. 



On most parts of the coast the Heron may be 

 seen at low-water, fishing in the little pools which 

 have been left by the receding tide : here he finds 

 crabs, shrimps, and other delicacies ; but instead of 

 being sociable, like the Gulls and Redshanks, and 

 inviting a friend to join him at dinner, he goes to his 

 own particular pool, like an old gourmand to his 

 club, and keeps the best of everything to himself. 



We have watched him on the rocky weed-covered 

 shore of Northumberland, on the shining sands of 

 Lancashire, and on the dreary mud-flats of the Sussex 

 harbours, and have found him always the same ; shy 

 and suspicious, even where seldom disturbed, he 

 seems to have a wonderful eye to danger, and we 

 almost believe can distinguish a gun from a stick 

 or an umbrella. 



Now and then upon a rocky coast, we have 

 stalked him under cover of a friendly boulder, and 



