178 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



easily accounted for. A great portion of the water- 

 meadows — so called because brooks, streams, and 

 rills run through them — has of late been, practically 

 speaking, drowned land. When the running waters 

 which intersect these meadows overflow, fish go 

 with them — small fish, as a rule, the large ones 

 usually managing to keep their places at such times. 

 After a lull of about four or five hours — eight hours 

 would be a considerable spell without wind or rain 

 — the water drains a bit from the water-meadows. 

 Then is the time for the heron; he fairly revels 

 in good cheer. The plashes are just the right 

 depth for wading; there are small fry galore, and 

 if he is in the centre of the meadows where the 

 hollows lie, he is out of the reach of any gun — a 

 fact that he well knows. If it were possible for 

 a heron to get fat, he would now do so. Certain 

 large watercress -beds are particularly favoured by 

 him, at least they have been up to the present 

 time, and no doubt he will come again when the 

 flood of rain ceases. 



The cultivation of water -cresses for the market 

 is carried on like any other branch of gardening. 

 There is an idea that they are grown wild, any- 



