72 
Allen’s naturahsx’s librarv. 
very interesting to watch a pair of Herons building their nest. 
One bird (presumably the female) stands on the nest while 
the other goes away and collects sticks. These he brhigs in 
his mouth, and gives to his mate. The sticks are gathered on 
the ground, sometimes close to the tree in which is the nest 
sometimes several hundred prds away. All sorts of stick.s 
are collected. On approaching the nest the male, who is 
evidently very proud of his home and his mate, usually utters 
•some loud croaks, at the same time straightening himself out in 
the air, and on alighting he sticks his crest bolt upright all of 
which IS no doubt for the delectation of the hen-bird* She 
gets up on her legs, which have been tucked in under her on 
the nest, takes the stick from him and arranges it. Then after 
a few minutes spent in preening his feathers, the cock goes off 
again, and the same routine is gone through. Apparently the 
male continues to bring sticks after incubation has commenced. 
Herons seem to make love to each other on their nesting- 
trees, and I have seen the male caressing the female on the nest. 
I he nests are far from conspicuous for such large structures 
even when the hen-bird is sitting, unless she shows the white 
part of her head. During incubation I have seen the birds 
change places on the eggs very neatly. One bird approached 
the nest, and just before it arrived the other, who was sitting 
on the eggs, gilded off and left; the whole thing was done so 
quietly that it was almost as inconspicuous as if one bird had 
merely flown over the nest. Herons return to their nests early 
in January, but those pairs which have to build new nests 
naturally get their eggs laid later than those which have nests 
already built. The last young ones left on July 28th, 1801 
and about the same time in 1892, but, after leaving the mst, 
^ ;:r r iSh?’ ^ 
Nest.-^This is a large structure, usually built on trees, but 
where these are not available it is sometimes placed on cliffs 
or shrub-covered crags and ruins. Mr. Robert Read writes 
‘In an island off the west coast of Scotland I have found a 
•colony of Herons nesting on low hawthorn-bushes The bushes 
were very thick, and the nests about four feet in diameter, 
nwade externally of large sticks and lined internally widi fine 
birch-twigs. The structure seemed to entirely cover the tops 
