THE HERON. 



189 



which the v ater-rats made regular passages through 

 the intervening bank into the ponds. These vermin 

 were engaged in never-ceasing mischief. No sooner 

 was one hole repaired, than another was made ; so 

 that we had the mortification to see the ponds gene- 

 rally eight or ten inches below water-mark. This 

 encouraged the growth of weeds to a most incom- 

 modious extent, which at last put an end to all plea- 

 sure in fishing. Finding that the " green mantle 

 from the standing pool'* was neither useful nor 

 pleasant, I ordered the ponds to be drained, and a 

 plantation to be made in the space of ground which 

 they had occupied. Had I known as much then as 

 I know now of the valuable services of the heron, 

 and had there been a good heronry near the place^ 

 I should not have made the change. The draining 

 of the ponds did not seem to lessen the number of 

 rats in the brook : but soon after the herons had 

 settled here to breed, the rats became extremely 

 scarce ; and now I rarely see one in the place where 

 formerly I could observe numbers sitting on the 

 stones at the mouth of their holes, as soon as the 

 sun had gone down below the horizon. I often 

 watch the herons on the banks of some other store- 

 ponds with feelings of delight ; and nothing would 

 grieve me more than to see the lives of these valu- 

 able and ornamental birds sacrificed to the whims 

 and caprice of man. 



I know, and freely avow, that the herons will 

 catch fish (especially eels), whenever those fish fre- 

 quent the shallow water ; still these birds make ample 

 amends for their little depredations, by preventing 



