THE HERON GARTH. By Kenneth Richmond.

(1946) 1973 reprint. Small 8vo (127 x 191mm). Ppiv,156. B/w illustrations. Red boards, spine titled in gilt.

"The heronry at Mootwood where Garth is reared cannot be his home for ever. At Blaefen he discovers the lethal powers of his spear-bill and is then nudged out to seek his own means of survival. But his staple food lies beneath the ice and snow of a hard winter, and he drifts into a stupor, close to death. He comes across an eel, equally comatose, which he greedily consumes. In the warmth of Garth's crop its teeth tear open the soft skin, and only a chance intervention of Man saves him. His health restored, he goes out again into the wild, by saltmarsh and mudflat, by river and tarn, to live by his spear. At maturity he takes Grold for his mate, but a final encounter with a gyr falcon leads to a dramatic end".