HERONS. 



177 



somewhat difforont. Dr. Bachman, in a letter to Audubon, said that " their hoarse 

 croakings, as if tlieir throats were filled with water, were heard on every side." 

 Others compare it with the sound produced by driving a stake in boggy soil, hence 

 the name ' stakc-drivei-.' Mr. Samuels render.s this love-soii'g of the male witli cktoik-On 

 lunk-chunk, qmink chunk-a-lunk-chunk, " almost e.\actly resembling the stroke of a 

 mallet on a stake." 





^ v. !./.•> ••' 



Fig. 8*i. — lierodiai alba, egret. 



The cuts representing species of this family have been selected with the view of 

 illustrating the chief forms under which the heron ty])e appears. The first <inc is a 

 characteristic reproduction of tiie African giant heron (Ardeotuega goliath), the 

 largest species of the tribe, witli the back asliy, head and under side chestnut, and the 

 ornamental plumes, except the crest of the head, whitish. It is nearly related to the 

 true and ty]iical herons, the interesting dichromatism of which we have mentioned in 



VOL. IV. — 12 



