112 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



means unpalatable, and may be cooked in the form of a 

 pie, which is very savoury. The fat, too, which is 

 found on the breast of this bird is very rich, and useful 

 when rubbed on a fishing-rod as you lay it by for the 

 winter, serving as a preservative alike against damp 

 and dryness. Herons feed chiefly, though not entirely, 

 by moonlight ; consequently they are fattest soon after 

 the full moon, and lose flesh as it wanes. 



I remember on one occasion, at the time -of the 

 harvest moon, when the nights are lightest, as we were 

 following the course of a mountain stream, we put up a 

 heron occupied in fishing a snug little pool ; and 

 passing again the following day, we found him in the 

 same spot, lying dead by the waterside ; having been 

 killed probably by some large hawk. His breast was 

 ript open, and the layer of fat exposed to view was 

 fully an inch and a half in thickness. 



But to return to my narrative. On our reaching the 

 hernery, the birds rose one and all from their nests, 

 and after standing for a moment, balancing themselves 

 in the most awkward manner possible, each on his or 

 her own bundle of sticks, they rose into the air with a 

 scream; and then, wheeling about over our heads for a 

 few moments, gradually flew off to a more secure 

 distance. Partly for the sake of their flesh, partly for 

 their feathers, and partly for their fat, we shot three ; 

 and one of the boatmen detecting two or three tall 

 necks stretching upwards from one of the nests, I 

 attempted to clamber up the ivy, in the hopes of 

 securing a young one. The undertaking, however, I 

 found more difficult than I had anticipated; and though 

 I succeeded in ascending a considerable height, I was 

 eventually compelled to give up the attempt, after more 

 than once narrowly escaping a fall. One of the boat- 

 men now made the essay ; and though in appearance 



