154 BRITAINS BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



ORDER, HERODIONES (HERONS, &C) ; 



Family, ARDEID^ (Herons). 



THE HERON 



(Ardea cinerea). 

 Plate 50. 



The Heron has been aptly termed a * still-hunter,' for it is 

 indeed predaceous, subsisting on eels and other fish, frogs, 

 and the like ; but in its hunting there is no swift piu-suit, and 

 no final capture of an exhausted victim, nor any remorseless 

 quartering of the water. The glamour and the horror of 

 the chase alike are absent. Still, motionless, standing in the 

 shallow waters at the margin of some peaceful lake, the 

 Heron keeps hours-long vigil, with the ripples lapping round 

 its long, slender legs. From a distance we do not see the 

 staring, watchful eyes, and the bird might almost be asleep 

 or frozen to a statue. And so much does it make itself a 

 part of the landscape that it is only bv chance, or by seeing 

 it take up its position, that we observe it at all. Others 

 more immediately concerned are also deceived, and at 

 length a victim chances to come within the danger-zone. 

 The picture is suddenly disturbed by one quick movement, 

 one sudden swoop of that spear-hke beak poised on that 

 long and graceful neck, and — the chase is over as soon as 

 it has begun. 



Such a scene is typical ; but the Heron does not always 

 stand in the water, nor does it invariably resort to fresh- 

 water, nor seek solitude for its hunting. We have counted 

 nine together one morning, standing on half-submerged 

 boulders, waiting and watching, all within the limits of one 



