OUR HERONRY 



IT is spring, and 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 im- 

 mediately sought out the trees in the most elevated 

 part of the wood. By the middle of April but few 

 nests remained unfinished, whilst the majority con- 

 tained 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 herons is a rookery ; and although 

 it has not always been so, the two species now dwell 



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