Originally published in
the Manchester Guardian on 9 November 1912
At the end of July a
friend of mine was lucky enough to see a night heron, an exceedingly rare bird,
standing on a tree which overhung one of the Cheshire meres. So far as I know
there is only one previous occurrence of the bird in the county, although it
has been shot about half-a-dozen times in Lancashire.
My friend's description
of its appearance and plumage was convincing, and I hunted vainly for it,
hoping that it was still about. It was, but I did not happen on the right spot.
Now, three months later, it has turned up and I have seen it; to be precise, I
have seen all that is left of it. The remains were discovered this week by a
gamekeeper.
The bird may have been
shot at and wounded or it may have died a natural death - rare birds do occasionally, - and
its corpse has been lying amongst the reeds, gradually returning to the dust.
Fortunately it was found before all the feathers had gone and whilst most of
the bones, including the skull, remained. It is not much of a specimen, but
there is enough left to prove its identity.
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