THE HERON. 
189 
which the water-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 heron.ry 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 
