62 THE ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDS. 



in the manner of an eagle's eyry, of sticks crossing 

 one another, and supported upon the branches or 

 between the forks of high trees. All the species 

 also are social, nestling in large communities, after 

 the manner of rooks ; though instances are not un- 

 common of individual pairs breeding solitary. 



The plumes of the heron were formerly in high 

 request in Europe, as ornaments for the caps and 

 helmets of the nobility ; and they still form a part 

 of the splendid costume of a knight of the garter. 

 In the East they bear a high value. Chardin tells 

 us, that the Persians catch the heron, and, after de- 

 priving it of its long feathers, suffer it to depart ;* 

 and these plumes even form a part of the royal cor- 

 onet or crown of Persia. Not only so, but dia- 

 monds and other precious stones, set in the shape 

 of heron's feathers, adorn the dhul-bandt of the 

 Persian monarch, some of which are said to be 

 worth more than twenty thousand pounds sterling. 

 In North America also, the Indians, who are very 

 choice in feathers, hold those of the several species 

 of heron in high estimation for ornamenting their 

 hair or topknot, and Wilson tells us they are some- 

 times seen in the market-place of New-Orleans 

 with bunches of them for sale. 



CHAPTER VI. 



BASKET-MAKING BIRDS. 



ALTHOUGH, in many of the instances recorded in 

 this volume, birds far excel us in the neatness and 

 delicacy of their workmanship, yet those which we 



* Chardin's Travels, p. 82. 



