HERON 
213 
made by nature to build its nest in a tree, and 
indeed in other countries it often nests on the 
ground in a marsh. Even in Britain it builds, in 
different places, on cliffs, ruins, and the bare ground. 
But in England the tree-top is the rule, and it 
generally breeds in company, like the Rook. The 
Heron returns to its heronry very early in the year, 
and I have found a nest with its full four eggs by 
the 24th of February. The middle of March, how- 
ever, is more like the average date. The nest is 
made of sticks, and is big enough to fill a hip- 
bath ; it is lined with twigs, roots, and some- 
times a little dry grass, and generally sees several 
years' service, with a little repair each spring, 
before it is finally abandoned. It is rather flat in 
form, and the hollow is not a deep one ; with the 
splashings of the birds, which are by no means clean 
in their habits, the black sticks of the nest soon 
become almost white. Three to five eggs are laid, 
of large size, and a clear and beautiful greenish- 
blue in colour, greener by some shades than that of 
the Hedge-sparrow. The Heron has various notes 
for different occasions, but all of a harsh and 
trumpet-like character. Its most characteristic 
attitude is one of motionless vigilance in or by the 
water ; and its food chiefly consists of the fish, 
eels, and frogs which it secures in this situation. 
But it will also eat mice, rats, insects, young birds, 
