Anglesey 



the wooded ridge, and so away over Baron Hill by 

 a short cut to some point south on the Strait, 

 bearing food for its young. During my present 

 stay, however, I found flocks of hundreds of these 

 birds haunting the fishing weirs to the north of 

 Beaumaris, so that every black stock in the palisade 

 had its white bird atop waiting for the fish to be left 

 by the falling tide, and in the mean while screaming 

 as they usurped one another's place, evidently still 

 fancy-free and on the less responsible side of matri- 

 mony. I found, however, before I left, that this 

 bird was nesting on an island near Menai, some 

 eight miles down the Strait. 



On the farther side of Mount Green is the first 

 of the series of shingly bays, where, at ebb, extensive 

 mud flats are exposed below the shingle. It is well 

 to sweep these flats with a glass before going forward, 

 as even at this period the heron and curlew are to be 

 met feeding here. You are not likely to outwit the 

 wary old heron in your approach, but by gently 

 advancing a good view of the bird may be obtained 

 with a glass. The tall figure, with its long straight 

 neck inclined forward, may be easily picked up at the 

 water's edge. There he stands, grey, gaunt, mo- 

 tionless ; and so he may stand for half an hour 

 together, and at the end of that time you may 

 possibly notice that the long bill has shifted through 

 a small angle, otherwise there has been no sign of 

 life in the strangely immobile figure. Or, if he 

 moves, it is with stealth and deliberation. One foot 



177 N 



