THE HERON AND ITS HAUNTS 79 



royalty itself framed laws for his protection and 

 special benefit. 



Even now they will kill him for eating in the 

 wild marsh-lands when they can get him. I have 

 seen him hanging up in the poulterers' shops for sale 

 as an article of diet. He commands a good price in 

 some places. A clean feeder he is, and his food is 

 fresh, for he has it alive. 



From my childhood I have known the bird well, 

 and all his habits and characteristics. With an 

 inborn passionate love for all wild creatures, I was 

 left as a boy to my own devices in that wild marsh- 

 land district which I have already written about ; 

 and I knew practically as much about the birds that 

 frequented our shore then as I do now. My know- 

 ledge was gained by wading through reeds, crawling 

 between hillocks, lying flat and wriggling like an eel 

 to watch the waders and gulls feed and wash in the 

 pools from morning to night. A lonely boy, I tried 

 to scrape acquaintance with the creatures about me, 

 and it grew to be the delight and pastime of my 

 youth, and the interest and pleasure of maturer 

 years. 



Jack Hern, as I called him then, is a bird of 

 sober-coloured plumage, grey, black, and white. The 

 bill has a yellow tint, and the legs are a dull light 



