HERON. 
121 
Order HERODIONES. 
Family A E D E I D ^ . 
HERON. Arclea cinerea ('Linnaeus). 
“ Crane ” (by error), “ Frank ” (in allusion to its note), Hernshaw.” 
Resident, sparingly distributed, and breeding in a few localities. — A young 
male, shot at S. Mary’s mills, 7th Sept., 1881, is now in the Museum. 
Harley recorded that it used formerly to build at Mere Hill Wood, by 
Cotes, two miles south of Loughborough, placing its nest on the lateral branches 
of the Scotch fir, from whence he had taken its eggs. It also built in Martinshaw 
Wood, where, in the spring of 1840, the birds were shot down and destroyed. 
After that date he stated that the species had hut one habitat in the county 
where it nested, — viz., at Stapleford, the residence of Lord Harborough, and 
even there it was not very abundant, only about half-a-dozen nests being built 
there annually. 
I am informed by Henry Long, keeper at Bos worth Park, that some years 
ago a single pair of Herons built a nest there. Mr. Gr. H. Storer records a solitary 
nest built in Buddon Wood in 1885, and Mr. R. Grroves another, in May, the 
same year, at Bradgate. Mr. Ingram writes : — “ Occurs winter and summer, and a 
pair have nested for several seasons in a wood at Belvoir.” On 5th May, 1884, I 
went over to Stapleford Park, by permission of the late Rev. B. Sherard Kennedy, to 
see the heronry, and, if possible, procure a pair of old birds with the nest and young 
for the Museum. I found the heronry had increased since Harley’s time, from forty 
to fifty nests being built in high elms and firs on an island in the lake, to which 
the keeper rowed me. Nests and birds were so plentiful, and the latter doing so 
much damage to the fishery, that the keeper asked me to shoot several, and so, 
both being provided with “shooting irons,” he with a 12 bore C. F. and I with a 
•380 Rook-rifle, at which he was, at first, disposed to “ snigger ” as being of little use, 
we took up our position within sixty yards or so of a nest, which he believed to be 
tenanted by “ chicks.” Soon afterwards something stirred, and I, thinking it must 
be the old bird, fired and evidently struck it, as it then stood up, and slightly 
raising its wings, subsided again into the nest. Lucas, the keeper, at once said 
“ He’s hit,” and began to climb the tree, but, when near the top, out scuttled the 
bird, rising amongst the thick twigs and soaring overhead, at which time I saw 
that the ball had cut some of the primaries away, and, in spite of perhaps a flesh 
wound, the bird, a fine example, made its escape. Moving to another part of the 
wood, we lay in ambush within about seventy yards of a large and high 
elm-tree, on the topmost branches of which were placed no less than five nests. 
Half an hour’s watch brought what appeared to be — by one of the gleams of 
sunshine with which we were favoured— an adult bird slowly sailing around high up 
in the air. He saw no danger and lowered his flight, and, just as he poised himself 
