Order HERODIONES. 
Family ARDEIDA. 
COMMON HERON. Ardea cinerea (Linneus). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. iv, pl. 
20; Dresser, ‘ Birds of Hurope,’ vol. vi, pl. 395; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. vii, pl. 4; Booth, ‘ Rough Notes,’ 
vol. u, pl. 16. 
In Great Britain and Ireland the Heron is the only 
common representative of the Order to which it belongs. 
Unlike the succeeding species of Herons, the Bitterns, 
and the Storks, which are but wanderers to our Isles, 
the Common Heron is resident, and, being very adaptable 
to its surroundings, is widely distributed. It is, in fact, 
a fairly ubiquitous species, occurring in considerable num- 
bers on the remote treeless islands of the western maritime 
counties as well as in sheltered and thickly-timbered dis- 
tricts. Away from its breeding-haunts, the Heron is 
wont to lead a solitary and secluded life, though in some 
places, notably along the sea-coast, I have frequently seen 
parties of a dozen or more together. In a day’s walk the 
Heron may be met with in varied localities ; along the side 
of a mountain-rivulet, by the banks of the clear swift- 
flowing trout stream, along the margin of the reed-fringed 
lake or river, on snipe-marshes, in the drains of turf-bogs, 
on esturine mud-slobs and sand-flats, and on the rocky 
portions of the coast. Whatever be the locality, the 
solitary and stately figure of the Heron is familar to 
ornithologist, gunner, angler, artist and country-folk.? 
' The majority of people in Ireland call this bird the ‘‘ Crane.” 
