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Notss. — The Chinese have domestic- 

 ated this bird and make it serve the 

 very useful part of fish catcher. They 

 place a ring made of some material 

 around the necli of the bird in order to 

 prevent it from swallowing the fish. 

 They are trained to come back to the 

 boat when the pouch is full and the 

 boatman turns them upside down and 

 pushes the fishes out. Stories are told 

 of large catches, but the writer has 

 never seen any fish of more than a 

 few inches caught by them. 



Family, Ardeldae, Herons. 



The Herons form a relatively com- 

 pact and generally well-known group. 

 They have long legs ; four toes always 

 on the same level, and the claw of the 

 middle toe has a comb-like edge on the 

 inner side. The body is thin and 

 compressed, the neck long, and the bill 

 long, pointed and straight. The lores 

 and a space about the eyes are bare. 

 The wings are large and rounded, and 

 in general the plumage is soft and loose. 

 The pecuHar powder-down patches on 

 the rump, abdomen, and elsewhere, are 

 always present. These with the comb- 

 like edge of the middle toe nail form the 

 distinguishing characteristics of the 

 family. 



Generally speaking Herons are gre- 

 garious, the Bitterns being an exception. 

 Herons fly with their folded neck 

 drawn in between their shoulders, 

 and the feet stretched straight out 

 behind. 



There are about 100 species of 

 Herons, of which China has 17, all but 

 three of which reach the Yangtse 

 Valley. 



