338 THE HERON 



fighting when they enter, and at the beginning of the nesting season, 

 but usually both parties appear to become gradually accustomed to 

 the statiis quo, and all ends in peace. Mr. Jourdain, however, informs 

 me (in litt.} that this is not always the case : a large heronry on the 

 river Aide, in Suffolk, was completely destroyed by rooks, which 

 devoured every egg soon after it was laid, and this happened many 

 years in succession. On the Continent the brown-kite is fond of 

 nesting in heronries, shamelessly feeding its young with the young 

 herons. 



In olden times the heron was the bird almost exclusively, or at 

 least preferably, hunted with falcons, and in those times it was pro- 

 tected, and its killing otherwise than with a falcon was a crime. When 

 pursued by a hawk the heron spirals upward, trying to go above it, 

 and, if unsuccessful, it was said on occasions to transfix its persecutor 

 with its long beak. In our countries, at least, the adult heron has 

 not any serious enemies except man, who resents its preying on fish ; 

 but eggs and young are not uncommonly taken by rooks, crows, 

 brown-kites, and other birds. The flesh is good to eat, and the breast 

 of a young but full-grown bird is excellent. 



THE BITTERN 

 [W. P. PYCRAFT] 



Unfortunately, chiefly owing to drainage, the reclamation of land, 

 and the general advance of "civilisation," the bittern has been 

 reduced to the verge of extinction as a British bird. It is unfortunate, 

 because it was one of the most interesting of all the inhabitants of 

 our fens and reed-grown wastes. In days gone by it was by no means 

 despised as a bird for the table ; while it contributed not a little 

 towards enlivening the interest of the fen-dwellers in their surround- 

 ings, by reason of its extraordinary vocal powers. Now that it is 



