94 
KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
earth. It is 18,000 feet high, and there is | there choice of any species of tree. I could not 
another range still higher, rising 25,000 feet | be sure of how many birds there were, but I be- 
above its base. 
moon corresponds with the earth, but with 
this difference—what is the rule on the earth 
is the exception on the moon. N. 
NOTES ON THE HERON. 
THERE ARE SOME particularly interesting Gpeatieettenag ee soaal okie ese ere aaa 
y be, 7 , 
papers in No. 30 of our good old friend “ The 
Naturalist.” 
from 8. Hannaford, Jun., Esq., who left us, 
to our great regret, last year, to proceed to 
Australia.* 
The communication we allude to is entitled 
“Notes on the Indigencus Plants of Mel- 
bourne; ’’ and it will be perused with delight 
by all who feel interested in that now im- 
portant country. 
The article we select is slightly abridged 
from ‘‘ Notes on the Heron,” by W. G. 
Johnstone, Esq. We quite agree in opinion 
with him, in considering a heronry an inter- 
esting sight. His ramble is introduced 
thus :— 
Tt was a delightful morning, the 4th of April, 
when we awoke, our thoughts intent on the pil- 
grimage about to be performed, to see for the first 
time not only a Heronry, but one situated in that 
small lake where steam, as applied to propelling 
vessels, was first tried, and that successfully, The 
place in itself is surpassing lovely, embosomed 
amongst slightly undulating green hills, with those 
of a sterner cast in the back ground, clothed to 
their summits with the Tasselled Larch (Larix), 
and our hardy native Pine (Pinus Sylvestris) ; 
and extending again beyond these may be seen 
the heath-clad mountains, where, in the words of 
the poet, 
“The martyrs lie ; 
Where Cameron’s sword and his bible are seen, 
Engraved on the stone where the heather grows 
green.” 
Indeed all around is sacred ground—the lake 
before us, Burns’ (our national poet) Farm at Ellis- 
land immediately behind us, Queensberry locking 
down upon us, surrounded on all sides by moun- 
tains till the chain is completed by the dark- 
browed Criffel, which guards the entrance to the 
Solway. 
But to the matter in hand; as I have before 
stated, the Heronry is situated on a small island 
in the lake. I was very particular in my exami- 
nation of it. The Heronry consists of forty-nine 
nests in all, of which two nests are on birch trees, 
three on silver firs, four on ash, four on oak, four 
on larch, seven on spruce, and twenty-five on elm; 
thus showing they are not at all particular as to 
* We may note here, that Part 20 of “ Morris’ 
Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British 
Birds,” and also Part 39 of the “‘ History of Bri- 
tish Birds,” by the same author, are just published. 
They are, as usual, highly interesting, and the 
engravings nicely colored—Enp. K. J. 
Among them, we observe one! ,,“. : : 
Ne tee _ their nests, for did branches intervene, they would 
_ have difficulty in so doing; it is a most ludicrous 

In this feature, then, the | lieve there would not be fewer than eighty to 
ninety—forty or forty-five pairs; but from the 
screaming way they fly about when one intrudes 
on their domains, it is no easy matter to count 
them. Though the nests are more numerous than 
the birds I have stated, there might be, as I have 
no doubt there were, some of them old and un- 
tenanted. The nests I observed are all placed, if 
not on the very summit of the trees, at least as 
branches—no doubt that they may get easily into 
sight to see their long legs twirling about like as 
many churn-staves before descending into their 
nests. 
Before the Herons got established in their pos- 
sessions, they and the Rooks had a severe, or 
rather a series of severe battles; but Mr. Heron 
came off victorious, and now woe to the poor Rook 
who ventures on the island! I have heard it 
stated that the legs of the Herons might be seen 
out of the nest behind, while sitting ; this is not 
the case. The nest is formed very much like that 
of the Rook’s, in many cases no larger; the eggs, 
generally three in number, are of a beautiful green 
color, varying somewhat in shape, but about the 
size of the domestic fowl’s ; some of them are ovate, 
pointed at the lower end, others are pointed at 
both ends. I noticed many of the male birds with 
splendid crests, others of them very small ; it may 
be that some never have that appendage so full 
as others, or that the latter are younger birds, for 
at least two years are required to perfect the 
Heron’s plumage. 
Altogether a Heronry is a most interesting 
sight, no less from its novelty than a romantic 
beauty peculiarly its own. We wonder much to 
hear of parties having such in their possession, 
destroying them. The birds do no injury, their 
food consisting of eels, frogs, and the like; indeed 
they only establish themselves in the vicinity of 
waters where such are to be found, and are more 
benefit than otherwise. Rookeries are allowed 
and cherished—aye, noisy Rooks—and why not 
the gentle Heron—a more interesting bird we 
have not on our island; one, too, associated with 
by-gone days, when the cry used to be at dawn 
of day— 
‘¢ Waken Lords and ladies gay, &c.” 
Not as now— 
‘‘ Up in the mornings no for me.” 
It may be well also to state that several pairs 
of Herons have this year, for the first time, built 
their nests in a wood at a short distance from the 
lake, not certainly for want of room on the island ; 
“but every man to his humor,” as Shakspeare 
says. 
Haying said so much regarding the Heronry, 
we must take notice of four other friends claiming 
our attention. Two by their restless activity, the 
Water-hen, and the Coot ; two by their subdued 
quiet beauty, the Wild Duck, and the lovely little 
Teal. The two former breed on and around the 
lake; the two latter disappear about this time, re- 
turning again generally in the course of a few 
months with a goodly addition to their numbers. 

