THE HERON. ^3 
(xtvry it away. But the smaller fry are his chief subsistence ; 
'■arise, pursued by their larger fellows of the deep, are obliged 
take refuge in shallow waters, where they find the heron a 
st 'h more formidable enemy. His method is to wade as far 
as he can go into the water, and there patiently wait the ap- 
P'oach of his prey, which when it comes within sight, he 
darts upon with an inevitable aim. In this manner he is 
;°und to destroy more in a week than an otter in three months. 
t( I have seen a heron,” says Willoughby, “ that had been 
shot, that had seventeen carps in his belly at once, which he 
will digest in six or seven hours. I have seen a carp, con- 
fines he, “ taken out of a heron’s belly, nine inches and a 
tl half long. Several gentlemen who kept tame herons, to try 
<{ what quantity one of them would eat in a day, have put 
{( several smaller roach and dace in a tub ; and they have 
(( h°und him eat fifty in a day, one day with another. In this 
<{ banner a single heron will destroy fifteen thousand carp in 
n single half year. 
But, though in seasons of fine weather the heron can al- 
" a ys find a plentiful supply; in cold or stormy seasons, Ins 
prey is no Ion get within reach: the fish that before came into 
fallow water now keep in the deep, as they find it to be the 
f armest situation. Frogs and lizards also seldom venture 
r °» their lurking places ; and the heron is obliged to sup- 
P°rt himself upon his long habits of patience, and even to take 
^P the weeds that grow upon the water. At those times he 
contracts a consumptive disposition, which succeeding plenty 
f Q ot able to remove ; so that the meagre glutton spends Ins 
■rue between want and riot, and feels alternately the extremes 
° i fmhie and excess. Hence, notwithstanding the care with 
tn ch he takes his prev, and the amazing quantity he devours, 
f e heron is always lean and emaciated ; and though his crop 
, ~ v * » 10 at way a tcau auu 7 # c? 
D , e usually found full, yet his flesh is scarce sufficient to cover 
th e bones. 
Though this bird liv 
o b best is built on the i 
n cliffs hanging over the s 
j e y ^h, committing thei 
enc e; hut in making their nests tbey love eacn otners sociey , 
a nd they are seen, like rooks, building in company with flocks 
their kind. Their nests are made of sticks and lined with 
and the female lays four large eggs of a pale colour, 
he observable indolence of their nature, however, is not less 
.f?h in their nestling than their habits of depredation. JN o- 
Uig is more certain, and we have seen it an hundred times, 
a h that they will not be at the trouble of building a nest when 
Ule y can get one made by the rook, or deserted by the owl, 
— vuia uuu u ves chiefly among pools anti marshes, yet 
lts nest is built on the top of the highest trees, and sometimes 
1 r ' v ' aL ' he sea. They are never in flocks when 
...... .,„ b their depredations in solitude and si- 
e hce; but in making their nests they love each others society ■ 
