186 THE HERON. 
injurious to our property ; especially when we reflect 
for a moment on the prodigious fecundity of fish. 
Take the roach for example. It swarms here in 
multitudes sufficient to satisfy the cravings of every 
heron and every cormorant in Europe. 
Should the lords of the adjacent fishponds ever 
read the contents of this paper, I would fain hope 
that their animosity against the heron will be dimi- 
nished, and that they will order their gamekeepers 
to spare in future a bird which every body loves to 
see. Indeed, what can be more interesting tothe orni- 
thologist than to have it in his power to watch a dozen 
of these birds standing motionless on one leg, for 
hours together, upon some leafless branch of a tree ; 
or to see them flapping their way over his head, on 
wings much more arched than those of any other 
bird that cleaves the liquid void. 
The heron is gregarious during the breeding 
season; though sometimes a solitary nest may be 
found miles away from the place of general rendez- 
vous. At other times of the year, the society seems 
to be dissolved; and the bird is seldom seen in this 
part of the country in parties of more than ten or 
twelve together. The nest appears like that of the rook, 
only often much larger ; and it may be found on the 
willow, the oak, the fir, and the sycamore, and pro- 
bably on many other kinds of trees, when they are 
in a place which affords security, and invites the 
heron to incubation. By the time that the young are 
ready to fly, the outside of the nest, and part of the 
tree which bears it, appear to the observer below as 
