444 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



THE HERONS AND BITTERNS 



In the first mentioned of these two groups 

 the COMMON HERON is the best known in the 

 British Islands. Indeed, there must be few who 

 have not encountered it in a wild state at some 

 time or another. In suitable spots it may 

 occasionally be met with standing mid-leg in 

 water on the look-out for eels and other fish and 

 frogs, a diet varied by an occasional young bird 

 or small mammal. Sometimes this prey is hunted, 

 so to speak, the bird walking along with a slow, 

 measured step, striking with lightning rapidity 

 and wonderful precision the moment its victim is 

 sighted, whilst at others it stands motionless, 

 as when fishing, striking the instant the un- 

 suspecting eel or flounder comes within range. 



From the earliest times until the reign of 

 William IV. the heron was specially protected by 



Ptuta lj W. f. DanJo, F.Z.S. 



COMMON NIGHT-HERON 



law, being held in high regard both as an object 

 of sport and a desirable addition to the dinner- 

 table. So late as James I.'s time an Act was 

 passed making it illegal to shoot with any gun 

 within 600 paces of a heronry. The favourite 

 way of taking the heron was by hawking, a 

 sport which has furnished material in abundance 

 both for poet and painter. 



Herons breed in more or less extensive 

 colonies, the nests somewhat bulky structures, 

 made of sticks and lined with twigs being placed 

 in the tops of high trees. From four to six 

 is the normal number of eggs, and these are of 

 a beautiful sea-green colour. The young are 

 thinly clad in long, hairy-looking down, and for 

 some considerable time are quite helpless. 



Similar in appearance to the common heron 

 is the American GREAT BLUE HERON, though it 

 is by no means the largest of the herons, as its 

 name might seem to imply. This distinction 

 belongs to the GOLIATH HERON. A native of 

 Africa, it is remarkable not only for its size, 

 but for an extraordinary development of long, 

 loose feathers hanging down from the lower part 

 of the breast, and bearing a strange resemblance 

 to an apron, concealing the upper part of the legs. 



Passing over many species, we pause to 

 descant on the EGRETS. These are numbered 



Photo by Scholattic Photo. Co. 



YOUNG COMMON HERONS 



These birds have not yet acquired their full plumage 



