THE HERON. 267 



tween his teeth, and his hands in his trousers pockets. 

 As we approached the island several loud croaks 

 were heard, and the sentinels took wing, the sitting 

 birds being the last to leave. Taking it for granted 

 that the bird which sat the longest was the most 

 likely to have eggs, we selected a tree from which a 

 Heron flew as we reached it. 



It was a wych-elm about forty feet high, and the 

 nest was placed amongst the topmost branches. 

 After a fatiguing climb, owing to the absence of 

 boughs for a considerable distance, we reached the 

 top, and paused to rest before looking into the nest. 

 And now was the anxious moment. Were our 

 exertions in vain ? Was the nest empty, or were 

 we to be rewarded with the sight of eggs ? The 

 nest was large enough to sit in, composed externally 

 of large twigs, chiefly elm and willow, and lined with 

 smaller twigs, fibre, and dry grass. It overhung 

 our head to some extent, so that we were obliged to 

 pull away a portion of the side before we could see 

 into it, when, to our delight, four beautiful eggs were 

 displayed, their bright bluish-green colour contrasting 

 well with the dark fibre on which they were laid. 



The wind blew in gusts, and it was no easy 



