The 
Heron. 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
(35) 
The Heron. 
By the late W. T. GREENE, M.A., F.Z.S., Etc. 
T HE leaden-blue 
colour of the heron 
is not particular, 
iy gay or attrac¬ 
tive-looking, nor 
does the configu¬ 
ration of the bird 
greatly commend 
it to the notice of 
amateurs endowed 
with ae s t h e t i c 
tastes, for the long 
legs and neck of 
the heron seem out 
of proportion to 
the short, round 
body, especially 
when the neck is 
retracted between 
the shoulders and the bird is standing in its favour¬ 
ite position, on one leg, by the side of a pond or 
stream, on the look-out for fish; these con¬ 
stitute its favourite food, though it is not 
above making a meal of any unfortunate 
batrachian, or even snail, that happens to 
fall in its way when the evening shadows are 
falling fast and no more dainty morsel has 
come in its wav. 
EVER ON THE ALERT. 
A stupid, heavy-looking bird, the heron is 
really not such a fool as he seems, for he is 
ever on the alert, chiefly, it is true, for some¬ 
thing to eat, and although his prey is prover¬ 
bially slippery, he seldom misses it when he 
darts his long bill out from between his 
shoulders, but grasps it firmly in his mandibles, 
gives the fish a fatal squeeze, tosses it into the 
air, and swallows it without further ado, almost 
before the victim has had time to realise what 
has happened. The heron, for all it» long legs, 
makes its nest like a rook amongst the top¬ 
most branches of some lofty tree. Also like 
the rook, the heron builds in company; but 
such nesting places, heronries they are called, 
are not numerous in Great Britain nowadays, 
though at one time, when the heron was in 
request for falconry, there were many of them 
scattered about throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 
As it utterly spoils the appearance of a bird 
to clip the feathers of one or both its wings, 
and as the heron would absolutely decline to 
remain in any given place not of its own selection, 
any enclosure to which the heron is to be confined 
must be covered over to keep the bird from 
flying away, and perhaps the best material 
for the purpose is netting that has been dis¬ 
carded by fishermen, for when the birds fly up, 
as they are very apt to do, and strike their heads 
against it, they will not hurt themselves as they 
would against wire. 
A FISHY CHARACTER. 
The heron has a decidedly bad name with the 
angling and fish-preserving members of the com¬ 
munity, and as it is a large bird and has a con¬ 
siderable appetite, being able, it is said, to dis¬ 
pose of two pounds weight of fish at a sitting, 
the complaint has more ground on which to 
rest than happens in most cases of the kind. At 
the same time, especially now that its numbers 
have been so much reduced, it is doubtful if it is 
really as harmful to piscatorial interests as it is 
asserted to be. 
A friend of live creatures of all kinds, who re¬ 
sided near Epping Forest a few years ago, had a 
large glass aquarium under his dining-room 
window, and in this he was in the habit of keep¬ 
ing goldfish. The tank was uncovered, and its 
owner, after a time, began to notice that some of 
the fish were missing, and cats were blamed for 
the theft. One morning, however, the gardener 
happened to arrive upon the premises rather 
earlier than usual, and to his surprise saw a 
large “ grey bird,” as he described it, deliberately 
picking fish out of the tank and swallowing 
them at his leisure. The gardener rushed for¬ 
ward and the marauder bolted, but, being heavily 
laden with the fish he had stolen from the aqua¬ 
rium, the heron could not immediately rise into 
the air, but ran along the garden path flapping 
its wings frantically for some seconds before it 
was able to ascend, and narrowly escaped being 
captured. 
As the tom-tit will discover the seeds of the 
sunflower wherever they are grown, so the heron 
will spy and, if he can, will help himself to any 
fish he may perceive, and if one of these latter 
birds is known to be in the neighbourhood, it will 
be as well for the owners of goldfish to protect 
them by covering the tank or pond they inhabit 
with wire-netting. 
