" The Heron never Dies 5! 203 



applied to other birds, exists here in a Welsh proverb to the 

 effect that " The Heron never dies," owing to the same spot 

 being often resorted to by one of these birds over a long 

 series of years. The farmer who quoted it to me, had been 

 in his farm for, I think, about twenty years. It was situated 

 away amongst the hills, and during that time a Heron had 

 visited him every spring, to feed upon the frogs that 

 frequented a pool in the valley below his house. As soon 

 as spawning time came round, the Heron was as certain to 

 appear as the frogs, and the farmer persisted that it was 

 always the same bird. In this he was most probably quite 

 correct, for in the nature of things there are few subjects 

 upon which it is less possible to have precise information 

 than on the natural term of a wild bird's life ; and the 

 Heron is, almost certainly, not a short-lived member of 

 the class. 



