The Gannet 



rock-loving congeners and is very seldom seen sitting on the 

 shore. 



The adult is pure creamy white, buff on the crown and 

 nape, and with black primaries. In their first year the young 

 are brown all over, each feather having a small triangular 

 white spot at the tip. The adult plumage is not assumed 

 until the fifth or sixth year, the plumage during youth 

 being various intermediate stages. Length 34 in. ; wing 

 19 in. 



THE COMMON HERON 



Ardea cinerea, Linnaeus 



Owing to its shy, retiring, and wary habits, this bird 

 is still fairly common with us. It spends the late summer 

 and winter in marshes by the sides of sluggish rivers and 

 ditches, patiently waiting for some unwary fish to come 

 within striking distance of its formidable bill. Frogs, 

 snakes, rats, and mice are also equally relished, and it is 

 by no means dainty or particular as to its food. 



In former days it was strictly protected and used as 

 quarry for hawking, in which chase the Hawk would often 

 receive serious wounds from the deadly dagger-shaped beak. 



The Heron nests in colonies on high trees, the nest 

 being built of sticks, lined with small twigs, moss, and wool. 

 Five eggs of a uniform greenish blue form the clutch, 

 and the young, which are extremely helpless when first 

 hatched, are carefully fed by their parents on predigested 

 food. The flight of this species appears slow and lumbering. 



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