THE HOME LIFE OF THE HERON 127 



instance of which I may quote the case of an intimate friend of mine, who, 

 having climbed — after very considerable difficulty — almost up to a heron's 

 nest, was glancing up to see how much further he had to go, when one of the 

 young herons, disturbed no doubt by the violent shakings of his house, and 

 foreseeing possible danger, decided to lighten himself in case of an emergency 

 flight. Most of the cargo landed on my friend's chest. Half a semi-digested 

 eel and a portion of water rat sliding into the opening of his waistcoat ! 



But after the young herons have left the nest, and before they leave for 

 the marshes or the mud flats, they spend their days in the tops of the trees 

 in or around the Heronry, and return to the nest to be fed, and it is during 

 this stage that they will disgorge upon the slightest provocation, and it is not 

 at all unusual for them to do so when disturbed merely by the fact of one's 

 walking under the trees in which they are sitting. 



At about the end of June, when the tops of the trees about the Heronry 

 are, as it were, dotted with the figures of young herons, the resounding ' flops ' 

 as disgorged eel, or fish, or water rat hits the ground, remind one of the sound 

 of ripe fruit dropping in an orchard on a windy day. 



If these objects be examined, they will be seen to vary very considerably 

 — eels — big and small there are in plenty, an occasional fish will be found (I 

 have discovered carp, a few flat fish, and once actually the undigested haK of a 

 large gold fish), water voles in great numbers ; also countless moles, shrimps, 

 and water beetles (the latter of the species known as Dytiscus Marginalis). 

 Also on one occasion, the whole of a quite fresh Redshank — ^immature but 

 fully fledged — was thrown up, and I have at other times found the feathers 

 of other birds inside the Heron's castings or pellets. 



For the Heron, like the Hawks, Owl and Crow tribe, produces castings of 

 the indigestible portions of whatever may have been consumed, and the examina- 

 tion of such castings is further proof of what the Heron has eaten. 



One cannot expect, however, to discover by this means what kinds of fish 

 the Heron has been taking (and perhaps by doing so to prove that he does not 

 take trout !), for his digestive powers enable him to assimilate the bones, scales, 

 and so on of fish, eels, etc., and the castings are generally composed entirely 

 of the fur and claws of water voles (or water rats) and moles, with a few 

 wing cases of Dytiscus Marginalis, and occasional feathers. 



Having ultimately become sufficiently strong on the wing, the young 

 herons leave the tree-top world of their youth, and generally go to the marsh- 

 lands, where they quickly learn to fend for themselves. 



On the marshes close to a Heronry in the south-east corner of England, 

 one may frequently see towards the end of June, or during July, as many as 

 forty or fifty full-grown young herons, standing in the middle of a semi-dried 

 marsh, or in the water at the edge of a dyke. 



Early in the morning, or towards evening, they may be seen walking in a 



