298 Poachers and Poaching. 



perfect health. The common diseases to which 

 ferrets are liable are owing to unsuitable food 

 and damp or dirty housing. 



in. 



OUR HERONRY. 



The herons have just returned to the heronry 

 after an absence of many months. At the end 

 of September the old and young birds flew off 

 together, and dispersed themselves over the low- 

 lying mosses which margin the estuary of the 

 river. Here they stayed during the winter, 

 feeding but little in the bay, but making long 

 flights either to the quiet tarns among the hills 

 or to the neighbouring trout streams. Like the 

 poacher, the heron pursues its silent trade by 

 night, and loves the moonlit ones best. Now 

 that the birds are breeding, their habit and daily 

 routine are ordered quite otherwise than during 

 the winter months. This year they returned to 

 nest during the last week of March, and 

 immediately sought out the trees in the most 

 elevated part of the wood. By the middle of 

 April but few nests remained unfinished, while 

 the majority contained eggs. The trees selected 

 for the huge burdens of sticks are oak, ash, elm, 

 and silver firs ; and the nests themselves are flat 

 platforms with just the slightest depression for 

 the pale green eggs. Close by the home of the 



