132 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



Eggs. Four to six, of a beautiful unmarked 

 turquoise-blue. Size about '11 by '6 in. 



Time. March, April, May, and June, sometimes 

 as late even as July. 



Bernards. Eesident. Notes, a low plaintive 

 cheep -cheep, and a cheerful, though not long- 

 sustained, song. Local and other names : Hedge 

 Accentor, Shufflewing, Hedge Warbler, Dunnock, 

 Hempie. Sits closely, and slips away without 

 demonstration . 



HERON, COMMON. 



Description of Parent Birds. Length about 

 thirty-six inches. Beak long, straight, strong, 

 pointed, and dusky in colour, except at the base 

 of the under mandible, where it is yellowish. Irides 

 yellow. Forehead, crown, and cheeks, greyish- 

 white. On the back part of the head the feathers 

 are elongated into a kind of plume, and are bluish- 

 black or dark slaty-blue in colour. Upper surface 

 of body and wing-coverts bluish-grey ; wing-primaries 

 black ; tail-quills cinerous. Neck white, adorned 

 with large longitudinal elongated spots of dark 

 bluish-grey in front. On the lower part of the 

 neck the feathers are elongated, and hang loosely 

 down. Breast, belly, thighs, and under-parts grey- 

 ish-white, streaked with black. Legs and toes 

 dirty yellowish-green ; claws black. 



In the female the plumes are shorter, and her 

 colour duller and less distinctive. 



Situation and Locality. On the tops of high 

 trees, ledges of cliffs, and in some places even on 

 the ground. The bird has been known to breed in 

 at least forty-one counties of England and Wales, 

 and does so in various suitable parts of Scotland 



