364 Wild Life in a Southern County. 
not so very fishy! But even he could not manage 
the neck part. 
This bird must have a wonderful power of sight 
to catch its prey at night, and out of some depth of 
water. In severe winter weather, when the lake is 
frozen, herons evidently suffer much. Most of them 
leave, probably for the rivers which do not freeze till 
the last ; but one or two linger about the water-mea- 
dows till they seem to despair of catching anything, 
and will alight in the centre of a large pasture field 
where there is no water, and stand there for hours 
disconsolate. I suspect that the herons in winter time 
that come to the ponds do so for the fish which lie at 
the bottom on the mud packed close together, that 
is, when the water is not deep. It is said that when 
ice protects the fish herons eat the frogs in the water- 
meadows ; but they can scarcely find many, for though 
T have been over the water-meadows day after day for 
snipe, I seldom saw a frog about them here. 
When the level of the mere, after a peculiarly dry 
season, is very low, is also a good time to observe the 
habits of many other creatures. There are always 
one or more crows about the neighbourhood of the 
lake; but at such times a dozen or so may be seen 
busily at work along the shore. They prey on the 
mussels, of which there are great numbers in the lake. 
Anyone passing by the water when it is so shallow 
can hardly fail to notice long narrow grooves in the 
sand of the bottom. These grooves begin near the 
