186 THE HERON. 



injurious to our property; especially when we reflect 

 for a moment on the prodigious fecundity of fish. 

 Take the roach for example. It swarms here in 

 multitudes sufficient to satisfy the cravings of every 

 heron and every cormorant in Europe. 



Should the lords of the adjacent fishponds ever 

 read the contents of this paper, I would fain hope 

 that their animosity against the heron will be dimi- 

 nished, and that they will order their gamekeepers 

 to spare in future a bird which every body loves to 

 see. Indeed, what can be more interesting to the orni- 

 thologist than to have it in his power to watch a dozen 

 of these birds standing motionless on one leg, for 

 hours together, upon some leafless branch of a tree ; 

 or to see them flapping their way over his head, on 

 wings much more arched than those of any other 

 bird that cleaves the liquid void. 



The heron is gregarious during the breeding 

 season ; though sometimes a solitary nest may be 

 found miles away from the place of general rendez- 

 vous. At other times of the year, the society seems 

 to be dissolved ; and the bird is seldom seen in this 

 part of the country in parties of more than ten or 

 twelve together. The nest appears like that of the rook, 

 only often much larger ; and it may be found on the 

 willow, the oak, the fir, and the sycamore, and pro- 

 bably on many other kinds of trees^ when they are 

 in a place which affords security, and invites the 

 heron to incubation. By the time that the young are 

 ready to fly, the outside of the nest, and part of the 

 tree which bears it, appear to the observer below as 



