94 A PHILOSOPHER WITH NATURE 



what is going on. Nearly everything that moves 

 in the water is prey to him, but here he often aims 

 at big game, and even the large perch and hungry 

 jack do not always escape him. Deceived by his 

 motionless attitude, and doubtless taking it as part 

 of the fixed and natural order of things that such a 

 colossus should bestride their narrow world, they 

 swim between his legs to their doom. The sharp, 

 powerful, bayonet-like beak is a most formidable 

 weapon. The fish is struck in the water, caught in 

 the bill and held aloft. If it is a small one it is 

 swallowed forthwith, with a toss of the head ; if the 

 capture is too large to swallow, the bird's action is 

 different. In these waters, at certain times, parti- 

 cularly during the spawning time, the heron captures 

 many larger fish ; the prey in such cases is carried 

 to land and the eyes are picked out ; as a rule the 

 rest of the body is not eaten. 



A beautiful bird is the heron at close quarters. 

 The rich yet delicate grey colour of the greater part 

 of the plumage, the black breast with its white patch 

 in front, the crest of black plumes on the head, and 

 the pendent breast feathers of the adult, all com- 

 bine to give a peculiar air of distinction to the bird. 

 It is for this reason that it is so often shot at, and 

 in consequence it has become shy and wary to an 

 extraordinary degree. It is in many districts a 

 feat requiring no small skill and patience to shoot a 

 heron. He knows a gun in the hand at a distance 

 as surely as a rook. He keeps out of range as care- 

 fully as a curlew, and he has to be stalked to wind- 

 ward with nearly as much caution and cunning as a 

 royal stag. 



A few of the birds breed not far from here. Be- 



