PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 329 



the nest may be found on the ground or on low bushes on islets in the loughs, and 

 even in England it has occasionally been found in reed-beds or even on shingle, and 

 exceptionally on the ground at the foot of a tree in a wood ! In Scotland it breeds 

 in places on the face of brush-grown cliffs. In Holland and Central France many 

 birds breed in thick reed-beds. Nests have also been recorded from bare hillsides, 

 and on ruined and ivy-grown buildings. As a rule the nest is flat, but substantially 

 built of sticks and branches, lined with finer twigs, but in reed-beds is generally 

 composed of stems of dead reed. Dead grass and roots may also be found in 

 the lining, while one nest has been recorded which was made almost entirely of 

 wire ! (PI. LXXI.) The share of the parents in building seems not to have been 

 definitely recorded, but apparently both sexes take part in the work. The eggs are 

 generally 4 or 5 in number, sometimes only 3, and occasionally 6 or 7. In colour 

 they are a uniform light blue-green, generally rather larger and broader than 

 those of the purple-heron, and devoid of gloss. (PI. R.) Average size of 142 eggs, 

 2-36 x 1-69 in. [60'2 x 42'9 mm.]. The duties of incubation are shared by both sexes, 

 and the period is usually estimated at 26 days, though Schmidt gives the period as 

 25 to 28 days, and eggs hatched under a hen took 25 to 26 days. Mr. B. Beetham, 

 however, noticed that the last egg in a clutch was hatched out 23 days after it was 

 laid. The breeding season in the south of England begins, as a rule, hi mid-February, 

 sometimes even in January, though in the north often a month later, but fresh 

 eggs may be obtained much later in the season. There is much division of opinion 

 as to whether two broods are reared in the year, and though in some districts it is 

 unusual, there is reason to believe that it is not uncommon in others. In the 

 valley of the Danube the breeding season is postponed till the arrival of the spring 

 floods, and fresh eggs may be obtained in May and even in June. [F. c. R. j.] 



5. Food. Fish caught alive, and especially fresh- water fish, form the heron's 

 principal food, but small reptiles and amphibians, small mammals (especially 

 water-voles, Microtus amphibius), whose fur is frequently to be found in the pellets 

 thrown up by this bird; also shrews (Newstead). Newstead records remains of 

 Dytiscus marginalis and Geotrupes stercorarius, as well as water-boatmen (Notonecta 

 glauca). Young birds, large insects, and mussels are also eaten (see p. 337). The 

 young are almost entirely fed on fish by both parents. [E. H.] 



