108 
THE HERON. 
Adjoining Middleton Hall is a large pool of some twenty 
or thirty acres in extent. It is supplied by a fair-sized 
stream, which, on leaving it at the other end, runs into the 
river. The pool is very shallow and forms the haunt of 
many species of waterfowl. 
The food of the Heron is principally fish, young birds it 
is not at all averse to, chickens not excepted, while frogs 
and water rats are freely devoured. 
These fine birds meet with but little sympathy in the 
district. In search of food they are seen many miles from 
Middleton, and are remorselessly shot down by gamekeepers 
and prowling gunners all over the neighbourhood, even at 
Middleton itself. One bird, which the keeper shot, I dissected 
and found in its stomach a fair-sized trout only just swallowed; 
the remainder of the stomach’s contents was so far digested 
as to be unrecognisable. The keeper told me that the Herons 
had destroyed £40 worth of young trout in a few weeks. 
This accusation seemed to me quite unfair, and I raised my 
voice in their favour, but it was useless. While the trout 
were disappearing, no less than eight swans were committing 
their depredations with impunity. People think the swan is 
a beautiful bird to ornament a sheet of water, and for this 
reason its protection is secured. Beauty covers a multitude 
of sins, and other birds, though equally beautiful, if not more 
so, which do not strike the eye of the superficial observer, are 
condemned to extermination for a fault, which to a great 
extent they have not committed. There is no doubt these 
birds destroy a large quantity of fish, but, though they can 
both swim and dive, I have never heard of them catching fish 
by any other method than that of standing motionless in 
shallow water, when a sudden dash at the unsuspecting 
victim seldom fails to secure it. From this cause the 
depredations of the Heron must be very circumscribed, deep 
water affording a comparatively safe refuge for the fish. The 
shallowness of the pool and the aid of eight swans would 
account for the speed with which £40 worth of trout dis¬ 
appeared, as the bird would doubtless live most freely on what 
was easiest to obtain. As deep water affords a protection 
for the fish, I should certainly not consider the depredations 
of this bird of sufficient weight to justify its slaughter, more 
especially as fish do not form the whole of its diet, rats being 
freely devoured, and it must be confessed these are a terrible 
plague. Whatever its faults are, the Heron’s stately flight, 
and its interesting colony in the breeding season, add a charm 
to the country scene worthy of admiration by the lover of 
Nature. While boating daily down the Tame I almost always 
