Frederick Bulstrode Lawson Whitlock

“ The district to which I refer should be a paradise for Herons, as numerous large ponds or meres, of one, up to many hundred acres in extent, are scattered over a wide extent of country. All, however, are not favoured as breeding-places by the Herons, and it is only in those which are covered by a dense forest of reeds and other aquatic vegetation that colonies are found. ”

“ In May of the present year I visited a certain district in France where the Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) breeds in moderate numbers. As my experience of the nesting habits of this species differs in some respects from previously published accounts, a few notes should not prove uninteresting. ”

“ The nests of both species were identical in structure, and were formed entirely of the dried stems of the surrounding reeds. They were rather shallow, but very bulky; one would have perhaps filled an ordinary clothes-basket. The foundations of the nests rested on broken-down reed-stems, and were on a level with the water. Standing by the side of one I could just comfortably get my chin over the rim of the nest. Those of A. purpurea contained 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5 eggs respectively; but those of the larger species, in one case, had young, perhaps a week or ten days old ”