THE HEEON 77 



watched him eagerly through my field-glass. 

 Time after time he transfixed with his long, 

 powerful beak an unfortunate salmon-pink ; 

 and once, among the pebbles in the shallows, he 

 caught a big, fat frog that he immediately carried 

 off to his mate. During his journeys to the nest 

 I stretched my cramped limbs and altered the 

 focus of my glasses in readiness for observing him 

 feeding the mother-bird. At last he varied his 

 course of action by relieving the brooding hen. 

 She, much to my disappointment, flew away bo 

 a distant part of the stream ; while I, refraining 

 from following her, moved back to watch the 

 sandpiper on the shingles under the beech-trees. 

 The heron's nest forms the centre of a wide 

 circle, within the limits of which to marsh or 

 leat or river or brook his lines of flight are 

 frequently varied even in the breeding season. 

 On being disturbed, he flaps away to such a 

 distance that hours of careful stalking are often 

 necessary before another glimpse of the gaunt, 

 motionless bird can be obtained. I have noticed, 

 however, that just as the bee, honey-gathering 

 among the flowers, will, for a period, confine 

 her attention to one species of plant, so the old 

 heron, found " frogging " in some stagnant 

 upland pond, will generally, when surprised, 

 make his way to another pond where frogs are 

 plentiful ; or, if alarmed while fishing for unwary 



