Herons and Border Heronries. By James Small. 331 



night. I have in summer time been very many times afoot for 

 angling purposes at all hours of the night, and although resident 

 in a district where herons are numerous, and often on the watch 

 for them, I never saw one feeding during the night, nor did I ever 

 start one during the night. I have, however, repeatedly seen 

 herons fishing very late, when the twilight had almost given way 

 to darkness, and the moon had cast faint shadows on the streams. 

 But in cases where I waited and watched for a time I invariably 

 saw the birds fly off landwards. I have also many a time in the 

 summer heard and seen herons flying riverwards overhead in the 

 early dawn ; and times out of number I have started them on the 

 river's edge when busy at their morning meal, just after daylight 

 had fairly mastered the dawn ; but rooks, jackdaws, gulls, and 

 numerous song birds are as early and late astir as the heron. 

 Indeed the black -headed gull or maw, which breeds in upland 

 mosses, may be heard giving call-notes as it flies during all hours 

 of the night in June and July. From my own experience, I 

 would therefore judge the heron as a very late and very early 

 feeder, but not a bird that feeds during the night. 



The heron was once "royal game," and was protected, and 

 was prized for the table. How it was so is a mystery. Even 

 when plump, and dressed and roasted to perfection, it is so fishy 

 in flavour that eating of it would turn almost any stomach of the 

 present day. But the young birds taken from the nest, and 

 properly stewed, are really good ; I have seen them at table 

 repeatedly. Old birds should perhaps be buried for a few days 

 before being roasted. In our Western Isles the cormorant is 

 used for soup, and it makes excellent soup, but the bird is buried 

 for a few days before boiling. 



The nest of the heron is broad and comparatively flat, and 

 resembles in material and shape, but not of course in size, the 

 nest of the wood pigeon. The number of eggs in a nest is 

 usually two; sometimes there are three, and occasionally only 

 one. The nests are built mostly on tall beech trees, and are 

 placed far out, on branches that look too slender for such bulky 

 nests. It is very exciting to climb to and visit a nest and handle 

 the young. The swaying of the slender branches at such a 

 height causes at times wild thriUs of excitement to pass through 

 the climber. When the young in the nest are reached they, 

 though even nearly featherless, suddenly arch their long slender 

 necks and strike boldly at the adventurer, their beautiful eyes 



