THE HERON 



number of large trees are to be found, may serve as the fishing-resorts of the 

 heron. 



Herons build in large colonies, or heronries, which may contain from about 

 fifteen to as many as four hundred nests. Formerly there were a great number 

 of English heronries, especially in Lincolnshire, but many of these, like the well- 

 known large one near Spalding, have been broken up. Many, however, still remain, 

 and a new one has been recently established near Lewes. One of the largest 

 English heronries was that of Bride, near Rye, in Sussex, which in i860 contained 

 as many as four hundred nests, although by 1880 there were barely a couple of 

 hundred. Now, owing to the felling of some of the trees, this magnificent heronry 

 has ceased to exist. 



The nest is a large, rude structure of dry sticks and reeds, lined with hair, 

 wool, and feathers, in which the female lays her three or four large green eggs. 

 The young remain in the nest, or nesting-platform as it might well be called, 

 until fully fledged, and are remarkably voracious. Putrefying fish cover the edge 

 of the nest, as well as the ground below, and poison the air with their smell. The 

 parents attend to their offspring for a few days after the latter leave the nest ; but 

 at the end of this period old and young part company. 



If the nest be attacked, the parents suffer their eggs or young to be carried 

 off, without doing more than opening their beaks and uttering mournful cries, 

 although in many cases a single blow from the beak would suffice to slay the 

 spoiler. 



Heron-hawking was in former days a favourite sport of the nobles all over 

 Europe. The falcon, usually the peregrine, always endeavoured to get above the 

 heron, when, after the delivery of a successful attack, both birds fell together 

 headlong to the ground. As a rule, the ornamental feathers — at one time highly 

 esteemed — were plucked from the heron, which was then set at liberty. 



On account of the damage it does to fisheries, the heron is even more 

 persecuted on the Continent than in Great Britain ; and is shot whenever an 

 opportunity occurs, except in protected breeding-places. 



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