A Tough Subject. 323 



in mortal fright, but presently gets half way up to 

 the clouds and sails away in calm security. His 

 neck then seems to drop down in a bend, the head 

 being brought back as he settles to his flight, so 

 that the country people say the heron often carries 

 a snake. 



The mark he offers to shot is much less than 

 would be supposed ; he is all length and no breadth ; 

 the body is very much smaller than it looks. But if 

 you can stalk him in the brook till within thirty or 

 forty yards, and can draw ' a bead ' on his head as 

 he lifts it up every now and then to glance over the 

 banks, then you have him easily ; a very small knock 

 in the head being sufficient to stop him. 



The tenacity of life exhibited by the heron is some- 

 thing wonderful : though shot in the head, and hung 

 up as dead, a heron will sometimes raise his neck 

 several hours afterwards. To wring the neck is im- 

 possible it is like leather or a strong spiral spring : 

 you cannot break it, so that the only way to put the 

 creature out of pain is to cut the artery ; and even 

 then there are signs of muscular contraction for some 

 time. A laborer once asked me for a heron that I 

 had shot ; I gave it to him, and he cooked it. He 

 said he boiled it eight hours, and that it was not so 

 very fishy ! But even he could not manage the neck 

 part. 



This bird must have a wonderful power of sight 

 to catch its prey at night, and out of some depth of 

 water. In severe winter weather, when the lake is 

 frozen, herons evidently suffer much. Most of them 

 leave, probably for the rivers which do not freeze till 

 the last ; but one or two linger about the water-mead- 



