GRfiAT BLUE HERON. 8 1 



that at Mr. Wilson's, at Dallam Tower, near Milthorp in West- 

 moreland, a battle took place betwixt the Rooks and Herons 

 for the possession of certain trees and old nests which was 

 continued for five days in succession, with varying success and 

 loss of life on both sides, when, I believe, they at length came 

 to the sage conclusion that their betters had at times acceded 

 to after an equally fruitless contest; namely, to leave things 

 in statu quo ante bellum. 



The European Heron appears to give a preference to fresh- 

 water fish, and for the purpose of taking its prey, gently wades 

 into the water where they abound, and standing on one leg up 

 to the knee, with its head drawn in, reclined upon its breast, 

 it quietly watches the approach of its prey. It has been re- 

 marked by many that the fish generally swarm around the 

 Herons, so as to afford an ample supply without much exer- 

 tion ; and Bechstein remarks, after repeated observations, that 

 the source of this attraction to the Heron is merely the excre- 

 ment of the bird, which the fish, according to experiment, 

 devour with avidity. Its time of fishing, like that of our own 

 species, is usually before or after sunset. Though there is no 

 ground for beUeving that the Heron acquires a macilent con- 

 stitution by privation, it is certain that in Europe, from a scar- 

 city of food, it becomes extremely lean. It is known frequently 

 to feed by moonlight, at which time it becomes tolerably fat, 

 being then unmolested ; and it is observed that the fish at this 

 time come into the shoaler waters. 



The Great Blue Heron is not an abundant bird, but it is found 

 more or less commonly throughout this Eastern region north to 

 about the 48th parallel. 



There are two heronries of this species within a few miles of St. 

 John, N. B., where one hundred to two hundred pairs breed annu- 

 ally. They are in groves of white birch about a mile back from 

 the river. I have found this bird also in the heart of the wilderness 

 districts fishing in the smaller streams and along the margins of the 

 rivers. 



Note. — A few examples of the Blue Heron {Ardea cinerea) — 

 the " Common Heron " of European books — have been taken in 

 southern Greenland. 

 VOL. n. — 6 



