138 
AIlDEIDJi. 
the day was advanced and Mr. Waterton, in his interesting 
essay on the heron, remarks, and doubtless from correct observa- 
tion in his own locality, that between sunrise and sunset it is idle ; 
but that when the shades of night set in, it sallies forth to feed.t 
The author of the ‘‘British Naturalist'’ J dwells at some length on 
the moral of the heron not feeding during sunshine ; at the same 
time mentioning that he was once witness to the bird^s doing so. 
I have, however, been always accustomed to see these birds 
feeding at every hour of the day, and at aU seasons, in Belfast bay, 
where they have come most under my observation. In the 
brightest sunshine, of the forenoon, I have observed herons 
capture prey in diflerent localities — fresh-water and marine (river 
Lagan and Strangford lough), and at mid-summer as well as mid- 
winter. 
The following observations were made during bright sunshine : 
— Sept. 10, 1817. — 1 looked at different species of birds for 
some time tlirough a telescope, as they fed upon the mud banks 
opposite Holywood, Belfast bay. Herons, herring gulls, curlews, 
and oyster catehers were seen feeding within a few yards of each 
other, and all on similar ground, though the prey of the heron was 
in the water, — little plashy places among the Zoster a. The object 
of tlus note, however, is to record that the heron sees an object, 
even a small one, in the water at a considerable distance, as proved 
to-day. The stealthy pace with which it approaches its prey re- 
minded me of that of steady pointers or setters when close upon 
their game. 
The predilection of the heron for fresh- water fishes is mentioned 
in the instructive work entitled Gardens and Menageries of the 
Zoological Society \ but the numerous herons which frequent the 
marine loughs of the north of Ireland throughout the year, except 
at breeding time, are well content with sea-fish ; and much more 
partial to such localities than to fresh-wafer lakes. 
Mr. B. Davis remarks : — If a hero-n be approached very 
* Faculties of Birds, p. 170. t Essays Natural History, p. 188, 3rd edit. 
+ Vol. i. p. 1 107. 
