a “ : om ’ 
* = - 
J 
NIGHT-HERON. 499 
narrow creek, we took off our boots and stockings, and, turning up our 
trousers, picked our way through the tangled boughs in the direction of 
the sound, which evidently proceeded from the centre of the island; and 
I shall not easily forget the sight we beheld when we reached it. 
“There, on the pressed-down boughs of the willows, only a few feet 
above the water, were hundreds of great flat nests of the various kinds of 
herons, spoonbills, egrets, bitterns, &c., all huddled together in one con- 
fused mass, and the entire colony reeking with the most indescribably 
filthy smell. 
“It was rather late for eggs, as most of them were hatched off; but it 
was just the time to observe the doings of the children of these sedate, 
quiet, peaceful-looking birds ; and I must say that I never yet beheld such 
a collection of little fiends, nor a more hideous set. Their bodies were of 
the smallest proportions, while every other part of them—their wings, legs, 
necks, and beaks—were of the longest; most of them had no feathers, and 
all seemed possessed with one idea, and that was either to limb a small 
brother or swallow him whole, and all kept up either a shriek of fear or 
pain or a yell of rage. Floating on the top of the putrid water were 
masses of dead birds, some with legs torn off, others without heads or 
wings. Most of them were dead ; but others were dragging their maimed 
carcasses about ina ghastly manner. So intent were they on their fiendish 
pastime that they took little notice of us, and dragged and clawed them- 
selves about after their weaker brethren at our very feet, whilst the old 
parent birds sat looking on from the topmost twigs, as if fratricide were the 
proper moral pastime of the young. A big spoonbill would chase a small 
egret from bough to bough, till at last he tired it out, and then seizing it 
with one claw, would take hold of its leg or wing and tear it from the poor 
victim, or else getting its head in its mouth, would try to swallow it whole, 
and gulp and gulp till so much of the little one was down its throat that 
it was itself choked, and'would turn over on its back kicking and strug- 
gling, to be in turn seized by a brother, and torn limb from limb. 
«All kept up some hideous scream, and all kept clambering and 
dragging themselves about from bough to bough, all either hunting or 
being hunted; and from what we saw I am sure nine-tenths of all hatched 
in that colony came to an untimely end before they could fly. We did not 
stay long to watch them, but quickly securing some eggs from the few 
nests that were not hatched off, we beat a retreat, with our opinions of the 
beautiful, gentle-looking birds greatly changed.” 
Swinhoe * describes a colony of these birds in China as follows :—“ This 
is the sacred bird of the great Honam Temple, Canton. The court-yard in 
front of this temple contains some venerable banyans, as well as a few 
towering cotton-trees (Bombax malabaricum). On the higher branches of 
* ‘This,’ 1861, p. 53. 
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