294 Wild Life in a Southern County 



of life : not even a stickleback could be found in it, though 

 they will live in the smallest ditches, and this pond was 

 fed by a brook in which there were fish.. Not even a newt 

 lived in it — it was a miniature Dead Sea. Another pond 

 was remarkable for innumerable water-snails. When the 

 wind blew hard they sometimes lined the lee-shore to 

 which they had drifted. 



The herons are at the same time the largest and most 

 regular visitors to the mere out of which the brook flows. 

 One or more may generally be found there at some time 

 of the day all the year round ; but there is a remarkable 

 diminution in their numbers during the nesting season. 

 The nearest heronry must be about thirty miles distant, 

 which probably explains their absence at that time. It 

 also happens that just before the summer begins the mere 

 is usually at its greatest height ; the water is deep almost 

 everywhere, and there are fewer places where the herons 

 could fish with success. 



They fly at a great height in the air, and a single stroke 

 of the huge wings seems to propel the bird a long distance ; 

 so that though at first sight they appear to move very 

 slowly, the eye being deceived by the slow stroke of the 

 wings, they really go at a good pace. They do not seem 

 to have any regular hours of visiting the lake — though 

 more seem to arrive in the afternoon — but they have 

 distinct lines of flight along which they may be expected 

 to come. In winter, however, they show more regularity, 

 going down from the lake to the water-meadows in the 

 evening, and returning in the early morning — that is, 

 supposing the lake to be open and free from ice. If the 

 shores are frozen a heron or two may be found in the 

 water-meadows all day. 



In the autumn, after a dry summer, is the best time 



