HERONS. 



177 



somewhat different. Dr. Bachman, in a letter to Audubon, said that " their hoarse 

 croakings, as if their throats were filled with water, were heard on every side." 

 Others compare it with the sound produced by driving a stake in boggy soil, hence 

 the name ' stake-driver.' 3Ir. Samuels renders this love-song of the male with chunk-a- 

 lurik-chunk) quanJc cJiunk-a-huik-chunk, "almost exactly resembling the stroke of a 

 mallet on a stake." 









FIG. 86. Hvrodias alba, egret. 



The cuts representing species of this family have been selected with the view of 

 illustrating the chief forms under which the heron type appears. The first one is a 

 characteristic reproduction of the African giant heron (Ardeomega yoliath}, the 

 largest species of the tribe, with the back ashy, head and under side chestnut, and the 

 ornamental plumes, except the crest of the head, whitish. It is nearly related to the 

 true and typical herons, the interesting dichromatism of which we have mentioned in 

 VOL. iv. 12 



