44 WADING BIRDS. 



grown before they make any effective attempts to fly. They 

 raise but a single brood ; and when disturbed at their eyries, 

 fly over tlie spot, sometimes honking almost like a goose, and 

 at others uttering a loud, hollow, and guttural grunt. 



Fish is the principal food of the Great Heron, and for 

 this purpose, like an experienced angler, he often waits for 

 that condition of the tide, which best suits his experience 

 and instinct. At such times, they are seen slowly sailing 

 out from their inland breeding haunts, during the most silent 

 and cool period of the summer's day, selecting usually, such 

 shallow inlets as the ebbing tide leaves bare, or accessible to 

 his watchful and patient mode of prowling ; here, wading to 

 the knees, he stands motionless amidst the timorous fry, till 

 some victim coming within the compass of his wily range, 

 is as instantly seized by the powerful bill of the Heron, as 

 if it were the balanced poniard of the assassin, or the uner- 

 ring pounce of the Osprey. If large, the fish is beaten to 

 death, and commonly swallowed with the head descending, 

 as if to avoid any obstacle arising from the reversion of the 

 fins or any hard external processes. On land, our Heron 

 has also his fare, as he is no less a successful angler than a 

 mouser, and renders an important service to the farmer, in 

 the destruction he makes among most of the reptiles and 

 meadow shrews. Grasshoppers, other large insects, and 

 particularly dragon flies, he is very expert at striking, and 

 occasionally feeds upon the seeds of the pond lilies, contig- 

 uous to his usual haunts. Our species, in all probability, as 

 well as the European Heron, at times, also preys upon 

 young birds, which may be accidentally straggling near their 

 solitary retreats. The foreign kind has been known to 

 swallow young snipes, and other birds, when they happen 

 to come conveniently within his reach. 



The Heron, though sedate in his movements, flies out 

 with peculiar ease, often ascending high and proceeding far 



