116 



It breeds in society, nesting like the rooks on high 

 trees, and forming Heronries, as they are termed. 

 The eggs, of which from three to five are found, 

 are of a bluish green, two inches and a quarter 

 in length, an inch and three-quarters in breadth. 

 In England^ when hawking was a favourite pas- 

 time, this species enjoyed the protection of the 

 game-laws. 



HERON, GREAT WHITE. 



GREAT WHITE EGRET, 



ARDEA E&KETTA, Flem. 



This species, which is said to occur abundantly 

 in the eastern parts of Europe, and to straggle 

 occasionally to its western shores, has been met 

 with in a few instances in England. It is an 

 accidental visitor to Germany, France, and 

 Italy. It has also been taken in Corsica and 

 Sardinia, where, however r it is not so common 

 as among the islands of the Grecian Archipelago^ 

 Turkey, and Hungary. It feeds on small fish, 

 reptiles, aquatic birds, insects, &c., and breeds on 

 the ground among reeds and herbage, producing 

 four or five large bluish eggs. The adult males 

 and females are alike in plumage. 



