The breeding season of the Stock Dove begins in April, and extends over the entire summer into the succeeding autumn. When resorting to maritime cliffs, the nest is often placed amongst ivy, in a rabbit burrow, or in a crevice of the cliffs, and is a mere platform of twigs, roots, or straws. In many cases a nest is dispensed with altogether. The two eggs are creamy-white, smooth, and polished. In inland localities a hole in a tree, or the deserted drey of a squirrel, or old nest of a Crow or Magpie, is usually selected. Several broods are reared in the season. This Dove is one of those species that is rapidly extending its area of distribution in our islands; the trend of its advance, however, being always northerly. Outside our limits the Stock Dove is found over most parts of Europe and North-West Africa, eastwards to the Caucasus and Asia Minor. HERON. Although this bird, the _Ardea cinerea_ of most writers, is usually associated with fresh and inland waters, it is frequently enough met with along the coast, especially about estuaries, salt-marshes, and such portions of the shore where pools are left by the tide amongst the rocks at low water. Moreover, it sometimes establishes its colonies on marine cliffs, or in woods adjoining the sea. Although of recent years considerably reduced in numbers, the Heron still justifies the prefix of “Common,” which custom generally attaches to it. There are few places round the English coast known to me where the Heron forms such a distinctive feature in the scene as on the wide estuary of the Exe, or, but not so abundant, on that of the Teign, a little lower down the Devonshire coast. Sometimes a score or more Herons may be counted here together, standing like big blue sentinels on the marshes, wading in the tidal pools, or flying in their slow deliberate way, above the flats. Many of these Herons breed in the valley of the Dart. Odd Herons may also be flushed here and there along more rock-bound coasts. The flight of this species is very imposing, witnessed to perfection as the bird passes to or from its feeding or fishing grounds, and its nightly retreat in some distant wood; or perhaps, better still, when mobbed by some Gull, or mobbing one in return. The Heron feeds largely on fishes, either those from salt- or fresh-water, together with frogs, water insects, and even small mammals. The Heron fishing is a perfect picture of still life, an ornament to the shore. As a rule, the Heron is a remarkably silent bird; he fishes, like all good anglers, in absolute quietness; but when passing through the air, on his frequent journeys, he often utters a short, deep trumpet-like note, startling and strange-sounding enough when heard from the evening sky.