364 GRALLATOEES, OR WADING BIRDS. 



is now allowed to vegetate. *' It costs too miicli to sliine In tlie 

 world," is the moral La Fontaine puts into the mouth of his 

 Heron. 



Although its flavour is certainlj^ as disagreeable as possible, the 

 flesh of the Heron was in the old time reckoned as a " royal dish," 

 and was only served uj)on the tables of the great and powerful 

 of the earth. In order to procure this supposed delicacy more 

 easily, the idea arose of artificially arranging a certain part of the 

 forest so as to attract the unhappy birds into a retreat which 

 shoiild realise all the characteristics of the natural heronry. The 

 birds here enjoyed all the comforts of life up to the moment Avhen 

 they were ruthlessly torn from them at the will and pleasure of 

 their lord. We must add that they adopted the plan of taking 

 from them their progeny to assist the royal treasury ; for, as 

 Pierre Belon tells us, " they were in the habit of trading largely 

 in the young ones, which brought considerable sums of money." 

 Francis I. caused heronries to be established at Fontainebleau, 

 which, as connoisseurs tell us, were everything that could be 

 wished. 



The Heron is quite susceptible of training when it is caught 

 young ; but it must always be little else than a bird of ornament, 

 as the service it can render amounts to little or nothing. When 

 adult at the time of capture it is altogether intractable, entirely 

 refusing food, and dying at the end of a few clays. 



The Purple Heron {Ardea purpurea) has the same habits as the 

 one just spoken of, but it is a little smaller. It owes its name to 

 the colour of the numerous spots which adorn its livery. It is 

 rarely met with in France, but is prettj'^ common at the mouths 

 of the Danube and Volga, and on the margins of some of the lakes 

 in Tartary, 



The White Heron {Egretta alba) is remarkable for its plumage, 

 which is entirely of a pure white. Two varieties of it are known 

 — the larger, generallj^ called the Great Egret, is about the size 

 of the Ashy Heron ; it is common in Eastern Europe, in the North 

 of Africa and America, and in the Malay Archipelago. The 

 smaller kind is known by the name of the Garzette Heron, 

 or the Little Egret, and is no bigger than a Crow ; it inhabits 



