78 WOODLAND, MOOR, AND STREAM 



appetite.' Fine sounding words these, but there is 

 no sense in them. Such a description is noways 

 applicable to my old acquaintance, the common grey 

 heron. He is a bird of many qualities, patient, 

 strong, and brave. Very rarely does he put himself 

 in a temper ; when he indulges in that luxury it is 

 the same with him as with some people who are 

 usually quiet, and the further you get away from him 

 the better. 



But why men and boys should rush for a gun to 

 shoot him down as though he were some dangerous 

 animal I cannot tell. That mark of attention has 

 been paid him for successive ages ; but in the olden 

 time only the great could deal with him, as he was 

 then in grace of sanctuary. The monks might 

 grumble when they saw him round their fish-stews, 

 but they were compelled to let him be. A cast of 

 jerfalcons or peregrines used to bring him to earth, 

 and then the falconer had to be quick to prevent 

 mischief, for, if his neck was free, that long bill would 

 be used with deadly effect, and his claws would clutch 

 like a cat's. When living he was held in the highest 

 estimation, and when dead also. For the heron, and 

 his near neighbour and kinsman, the bittern, graced 

 the abbot's table as well as that of the nobility. A 

 royal bird of those days one might style him, for 



