with their early and glittering leaves, while the sight of some sturdy old oak pollards, covered with ivy, from which

The stock-dove only through the forest cones

Mournfully hoarse

verdant hollies, and here and there a wild cherry tree, with its silvery blossoms, added to the charm of the scenery. Sometimes a rabbit, a hare, or a pheasant would run for shelter amongst the fern— a herd of deer might be seen reposing in some sequestered dell, or a group of cattle indolently standing in the shallow water of a pond. Such was the spot we were engaged in contemplating with that delight which a lover of nature alone can experience, (it was near the Sandpit gate), when our attention was called to the hoarse croaking of a pair of Ravens, who were apparently endeavouring to take possession of one of the nests of the herons that build on the tops of the trees, which, in this part of the park, far exceed in height any I have yet met with. The heron defended its nest with great courage, uttering shrill and distressed cries, and after the battle had lasted some length of time, the ravens were beaten off.

This herony is a noble appendage to the Park, and any monarch might well be proud of it, as well as of the trees on which the nests are built. As I am not aware of there being more than

eleven or twelve heronries left in this country, it is to be hoped that every care will be taken of the one referred to. Severe penalties were formerly imposed on any person killing a heron, and I believe that the laws enacting them have not been repealed; at present we find herons amongst the trophies nailed by keepers upon some stunted oak tree, in the midst of magpies, jays, owls and polecats, although the damage they do to fish-ponds is comparatively trifling, feeding, as they chiefly do, upon frogs, snails, water-rats and small eels. In the breeding season, when they have to provide for their ravenous young, they may attack the larger sort of fish, but the interest which must always be attached to this royal bird, connected as it is with the chivalry and ancient sports of this country, ought to be sufficient to protect it from wanton destruction, independently of its own wild and picturesque character.

In order to ascertain, as far as we were able, the extent of destruction committed by these persecuted birds in the breeding season, my companion, whose thirst for information on subjects connected with natural history is of no ordinary degree, procured a young heron about two-thirds grown, which had fallen from the nest and been killed. On dissecting it, the stomach was found very large and much distended. It contained fishbones, one fish, probably, from its appearance, a

roach, half digested, and eight inches and a quarter in length. There were also pellets of hair an inch and quarter long, apparently the hair of the field mouse-the scales of the common snake, (natrix torquata) and the bones of the frog. On the ground, under a heron's nest, we found a pellet of hair about as big as an hen's egg, and having exactly the microscopical characters and general appearance of the water-rat (arvicola amphibia). After searching repeatedly under the different nests, we were never able to discover any rejected particles of fish or even of fish bones. The pellets of hair were frequent.

It is evident from the above facts, that the food of the heron is not confined to fish, and, therefore, that the depredations, it is supposed to commit in fish-ponds are not so extensive as has been asserted. It may be remarked that from the comparatively small size of a heron's nest, the young, when about half grown, are constantly falling out of it, and thus many perish. A visit to the heronshaw, for so it was antiently called, in Windsor Great Park, will amply repay the trouble of going thither, if rambling in this most beautiful domain,

* The Heron-shaw originally signified the wood or coppice where the herons built; thence it was transferred to the bird itself, which was called Heronshaw; and thus the proverb, a hawk from a handsaw," the meaning of which was, that in a very distant flight, it was difficult to distinguish the hawk from the heron.

Supremest place of the great English kings,

can ever be so considered.

Before I conclude this notice of herons, it may be as well to mention that they breed early in the spring, probably beginning to lay their eggs about the middle of March, as on the 8th of April I found discarded egg-shells under their nests. The cry of the young birds is very peculiar, resembling the sound of distant hammering. I have only heard it when the old bird was driven from the nest, and it arises probably from cold or hunger. The affection of the parent birds for their young is very great, and I have elsewhere, recorded the fact of a young heron having been removed, at night, to a place at some miles' distance, and put into a walled garden, where it was discovered by the old birds early the next morning, and was regularly fed by them till it was able to fly away. As there were probably other young ones in the nest to be fed, this fact shews not only the affection, but the perseverance of the parent birds. It is not improbable that the young are fed from the partly digested contents of the stomachs of the old birds, as, although I have repeatedly watched to see their arrival from distances, where they had evidently gone in search of food during the breeding season, I have never yet observed anything in their bills. Indeed the stomach of the heron is so capacious, that

they probably swallow everything as they catch it, which they do occasionally while on the wing.

I delight in watching the silent manner in which a heron quits its nest, or the branch of a tree on which it has settled. When it is considered that the length of this bird is upwards of three feet, and at least five feet from the tip of one wing to the other, this is not a little surprizing. Not a sound however is heard on these occasions.

In

I happened to make a visit to the heronry on a windy day. Some of the birds quitted their nests and soared in circles over the tops of the trees. In doing this, I observed that they sometimes stretched out one leg and then another, and frequently both together. It was evident that they served as rudders to enable them the better to perform their gyrations. I am not aware that this fact has been hitherto noticed by naturalists. a straightforward flight, the legs are extended, and the head placed between the shoulders. The patience of this bird must be very great, as it may be observed for hours together, watching for its prey by the side of some ditch or shallow water. It can probably also live a long time without food, as in severe winters it must be difficult for it to obtain the usual supply.*

* In severe winters, when the inland-springs and waters are locked up by frost, these birds frequent the sedgy pools and salt marshes near the sea.