NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 133 



and hath a marvelous hatred to the hawk, which hatred is duly 

 returned. When they fight above in the air, they labour both espe- 

 cially for this one thing — that one may ascend and be above the other. 

 Now, if the hawk gettoth the upper place, he overthroweth and van- 

 quisheth the heron with a marvellous earnest flight." After one or 

 two strikes, if the hawk is successful, the heron is borne to the ground 

 where the attack is renewed, and the sharp, daggerlike bill of the 

 heron and his great strength and quickness in striking make him a 

 formidable antagonist. In later years it became a point of honor 

 for the falconers to ride hard to the finish to make sure that the heron 

 was uninjured. A copper ring was fixed to his leg with the date of 

 capture engraved on it and the place of its liberation. 



The heron was formerly considered a delicacy for the table. In 

 the reign of Edward IV no less than 400 herons were served at the 

 enthronement of the Archbishop of York, and there is the record of 

 "6 hearnshaws" being served at the Hall of the Stationers' Company 

 as late as 1812. Its fat, especially from the marrow of the thigh 

 bones was believed to be especially attractive to fish and was much 

 sought after as an ingredient in the pastes used as bait. 



[Author's note. — Since the above was written, Julian S. Huxley 

 (1924) has published some observations on the ceremonies of courtship 

 nest relief, stick presentation, and other expressions of emotion, as 

 seen in the common European heron. The author would refer the 

 reader to this interesting paper, which is well worth reading.] 



distribution 



Range. — Great Britain and most of continental Europe and Asia, 

 south of 60° north latitude, and parts of tropical India and Africa, 

 south to Cape Colony; replaced by a closely allied form in eastern 

 Siberia, China, and Japan. Accidental in Iceland and Greenland 

 (Godthaab, Jan. 14, 1877). Casual in the Faroes, Madeira, and 

 Ascension. 



Egg dates. — Great Britain: 10 records, February 28 to May 20; 

 o records, March 26 to May 12. 



CASMERODIUS EGRETTA (Gmelin) 

 AMERICAN EGRET 



HABITS 



The "long white," as it is called by the plume hunters of Florida, 

 is well named. Its long, smooth, slender neck, so expressive in its 

 varied poses, its long, graceful, flowing plumes, reaching far beyond its 

 tail like a bridal train, and the exquisite purity of its snowy-white 

 plumage make a picture of striking beauty when sharply outlined 

 against a background of dark green foliage or when clearly mirrored 



