478 ARDEA PURPUREA. 
ARDEA PURPUREA, Linneus. 
PURPLE HERON. 
. § 5308: One—{Holland?] From Mr. Hoy’s Collection, 
through Mr. Tuke. 
[As shewn by Mr. Hewitson (Brit. Ool. pl. exix.), Mr. Hoy had visited the 
breeding-quarters of this species before 1837.] 
§ 5309. One.—From M. Hardy, of Dieppe, 1846. 
§ 5310. Zén.—Holland, 1850. From Dr. Frere. 
Out of forty, bought by Dr. Frere in Leadenhall Market, at 
nine shillings the dozen. 
§ 5311. FMowr.—Ouderkerk, Holland, 9-12 May, 1857. From 
Mr. J. Baker, 1858. 
These bought of Mr. Baker, at Cambridge, 2 March, 1858, and 
taken all, he said, with his own hand. There were no Common 
Herons in the district. The nests were mostly on the ground; but 
a few were in trees—fallen trees, a few feet from the ground. He 
caught many birds on their nests, letting them go again, and he 
described to me their great beauty. His method was that adopted 
by the falconers at Valkeuswaard, especially in catching Herons for 
training the Hawks. A simple open knot [qu. noose ?] is laid 
round the nest, with a piece of string many yards in length, one end 
of which is securely fastened to some stake or other at one side of 
the nest, while the other end is brought away to any distance. It is 
then left for a time, and the person who sets it, returning and 
pulling the end sharply, is almost certain to snare the bird. I find 
the name Ouderkerk on the map, a few miles north of Rotterdam, 
and this is probably Baker’s station. The eggs in Leadenhall 
Market have been said to be from the neighbourhood of Rotterdam. 
The birds are preserved, says Mr. Baker, both by the proprietors and 
by the law. I selected these four eggs out of some twenty or thirty, 
as varieties in point of size. On comparing them with those in my 
