356 HERONS. 



and is brought to land that it may be beaten to death on the shingle. A large 

 fish is impaled on its dagger-like beak, and, if worth the labour, is carried off 

 to some safe retreat to be devoured at leisure. A frog is swallowed whole ; 

 a water-rat has its skull split before it discovers its enemy, and speedily is 

 undergoing the process of digestion. Shrimps, small crabs, newts, water- 

 beetles, share the same fate,— all is fish that comes to its comprehensive net. 

 If, however, notwithstanding its watchfulness, the look-out be unsuccessful, 

 the heron rises a few feet into the air, and slowly flaps itself away to some 

 little distance, where, perhaps, slightly altering its att-itude, it stands on one 

 leg, with its head thrown back, and awaits better fortune. While thus sta- 

 tioned, 'it is mute ; but as it flics off it frequently utters its note — a harsh, 

 grating scream — especially when other birds of the same species are in the 

 neighbourhood. In the month of March herons begm to congregate, and 

 soon after repair to their breeding-places, called Heronries : these are often 

 clumps of lofty trees or groves, frequently near some old family mansion. 

 The nests — huge masses of sticks a yard across, lined with a little grass and 

 other soft materials— are placed near each other, as many, sometimes, as a 

 hundred in a colony ; or more rarely they are placed among ivy-clad rocks, 

 old ruins, or on the ground. Each nest contains four or five eggs, on which 

 the female sits almost three weeks, constantly fed by her partner during the 

 whole period of incubation. The capability of walking would be of little use 

 to a young bird hatched at an elevation of fifty feet from the ground ; the 

 young herons are consequently helpless till they are sufficiently fledged to 

 perch on the branches of the trees, where they are fed by their parents, who 

 themselves are able to perch with the facility of a rook. Indeed, the favourite 

 station of these birds during a considerable part of the day is on the upper 

 branches of a lofty tree, whither also they often repair with a booty too large 

 to be swallowed at once. The appearance of these birds when flying is re- 

 markable : the head and legs arc held straight out in a line with the body, 

 exactly counterbalancing each other, while the long and ample wings, striking 

 the air with regular but gentle beats, propel it forward in very grand and 

 imposing stateliness. 



Sub-Family IV. 



THE STORKS. CICONIN/E. 



General Characteristics.— Bill lengthened, usually straight and conical, with the 

 sides compressed to the tip, wliich is acute ; the gonys long and ascending , the 

 nostrils lateral, pierced in the substance of the bill, with the opening linear ; the 

 wings long and ample ; the tail moderate and broad ; the tarsi lengthened, and 

 usually covered with reticulated scales ; the toes moderate, with the anterior toes 

 more or less united at the base, the hind toe long, elevated, and partly resting on 

 the ground. 



These birds, in their migrations, visit various marshy districts 

 in Europe, Asia, and Africa. They usually seek their food on 

 the borders of rivers and streams, or in marshes. They hve upon 



