FEN-BIRD SHOOTING. 105 



colour. Dimng incubation, the male bird passes much of his time 

 perched by the side of the female. They desert their nests during 

 the winter season, _ except in the month of February, when they 

 pay them again a visit, and put them into a state of repair. 



Although the heron is a greedy_ eater, it is long, lank, and 

 awkward in shape. It seldom weighs more than three or four 

 pounds, notwithstanding^ it measures about three feet in len^-th, 

 and the breadth of its wings, from tip to tip, is above five feet. 

 The bill is full six inches long, straight, pointed,_ strong, and ser- 

 rated; and the upper mandible is of a yellowish horu colour, 

 ruimin!^ dark towards the ridge, and the under one is yellow. A 

 bare skin is extended from the beak towards the eyes, the irides of 

 whicli are yellow, which gives them a fierce and penetrating aspect. 

 The brow and crown of the head are white ; the eyes bordered by 

 black lines, which stretch along to the nape of the neck, where 

 tiiey join a long, flowing, pendant crest of the same colour. The 

 upper part of the neck, in some birds, is white, in others pale ash 

 coloured ; and the fore part, lower down, is spotted with a double 

 row of black feathers, those falling over the breast being long, 

 loose,_ and unwcbbed. The shoulder and scapular feathers are 

 likev.'ise of the same kind of texture, of a gray colour, generally 

 streaked wdth white, and spread over its down-clothed back. The 

 ridge of the wing is wdiite, coverts and secondaries lead-colour, and 

 bastard ^nn?s and quills of a bluish black, as are also the long soft 

 feathers v/liich take their rise on the sides under the wings. These 

 fall down, meet then- tips, and hide all the under parts ; the latter, 

 next the skin, being covered Vvdtli a thick,_ matted, dirty-white 

 do^vn, except about the belly and vent, which are almost bare. 

 The tad is short, and is constituted of twelve feathers of a brown- 

 ish-red colour. The legs are dirty-green, long, bare above the 

 knees, and the middle claw is jaggecl on the inner edge. 



The female bh-d differs from the male in not possessing the long 

 flowing crest, or the long feathers which ornament the_ breast of 

 the male. The entire plumage of the female is comparatively more 

 subdued and uninteresting. 



Shooting the heron may generally be referred more to chance 

 than any settled plan of sporting with the gun. The extreme 

 shjTiess and cunning of the bird makes it difficult tp get within a 

 shooting range of it, and it is commonly only l3y accident thai the 

 sportsman falls upon it unawares and secures it. When not 

 fatally wounded at first, it will turn upon both the shooter and the 

 dog, if he has one ; and with its hard pointed bill can inflict a 

 sharp wound. We once shot one in the north of England, which 

 was merely winged. When it fell, a trout of ten inches dropped 

 out of its mouth. On our dog approaching' it, it was struck upon 

 the forehead by the bird's bill, and a wound more than half an inch 

 deep inflicted upon it. Such occiu*rences are far from being rare 

 in the shooting annals of this curious specimen of the fen-birds. 



In England herons were for centuries considered royal game, and 



