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ROUGH NESTING NOTES FROM YORKSHIRE. 
By Oxtey GraspuamM, M.A., M.B.O.U. 
Herons had eggs the second week in February in spite of 
most inclement weather, and they still hold their own in face 
of persistent trapping on the trout streams. I remember some 
years ago, when fishing for the first time a well-known stream 
which shall be nameless, my wrath at seeing five Herons gibbeted 
hard by; a few days’ experience, however, convinced me that a 
clean bill cannot unfortunately be given to them, for they often 
destroy fine fish which they cannot possibly eat, out of sheer 
devilment, and fond as I am of them, I must own they do a good 
deal of harm; however, I believe fully in the principle of live and 
let live, and would gladly sacrifice a few fish for the pleasure of 
seeing this stately bird. ‘Thanks to the protection afforded it 
on certain estates, it is likely to gladden the eyes of the field 
naturalist for some time to come. 
Woodcock are increasing yearly, and I know of a wood where 
over twenty pairs have bred this year, but the young are off long 
before the shooting season. ‘The same increase I have noted in 
the breeding of Snipe and Redshank. I know of many colonies of 
the latter, one numbering nearly twenty pairs of birds, and so far 
from the nests always being placed in a tuft of grass, with the blades 
most carefully concealing the eggs, as we are told in the books, 
I have frequently found them on the open moor amidst the short 
ling, without any attempt at concealment; and I have found Snipe 
in exactly similar places. 
The Lapwing, despite the netting, egging, and shooting that 
it has to contend with, holds its own well in most places: this I 
attribute to their wonderful adaptability to circumstances. I find 
their nests equally on the highest fells, in the marshy plains, on the 
moorlands, and amidst enclosed ground, and no matter how their 
‘eggs are taken, in a very short time they are laying again. I see 
Mr. Cordeaux states that the Lapwing is getting scarcer in 
