814 



THE BOAT-BILL. 



incr even to visit gardens and domestic premises, whicTi any pros- 

 pect of fare may offer. He is, at the same time, perhaps as much in 

 qi'est of the natural enemy of the fish, the frog, as of the legirimate 

 tenants of the pond. These bold and intrusive visits are commonly 

 made earlv in the morning, or towards twilight, and he not unfrequently 

 when pressed by hunger, or after ill success, turns out to hunt his fare 

 by day, as well as ffusk, and, at such times, collects various larvae, 

 paTlical'arly those of the Dragon-fly, with Grasshoppers, and different 

 kinds of insects. At other times he preys upon small fish. Crabs and 

 Frogs, for which he often lies patiently in wait till they reappear from 

 their hiding places in the water or mud, and on being transfixed and 

 caught, which is effected with great dexterity, they are commonly 

 beaten to death, if large, and afterwards swallowed iki, leisure. 



THE BOAT-BILL. 



This genus of the family ^rcZeu/aZ(neron-like birds,) would approach 



quite closely, as Cu- 

 vier observes, to the 

 Herons, in regard to 

 their bill and the kind 

 of food which it indi- 

 cates, were it not for 

 the extraordinary 

 form of that organ, 

 which is nevertheless, 

 when closely observ- 

 ed the bill of a Heron 

 or a Bittern, very 

 much flattened out. 

 This bill is of an oval 

 form, longer than the 

 head, very much de- 

 pressed, and not un- 

 like the bowls of two 

 spoons placed one 

 upon another, with 

 the rims in contact. 

 The common Boat-bill 

 is about the size of a 

 domestic hen. In the 

 male the forehead and 

 upper parts of the 

 neck and breast, are 

 dirty white ; the back 

 and lower part of the 

 ""*'•'"'''- belly rusty-reddish ; 



the bill is black, and the legs and feet are brown. Froto the head 

 deperda a long crest of black feathers, falling backwards. The female 



