

ARDEA. 



ARDEA. 



into distinct geiiera by modem naturalists. SI. Vieillot folluwod 

 Buffon in making four divisions of the Herons ; but Temminck, who 

 has paid peculiar attention to these birds, arranges them under one 

 genus and two sections. The genus Ardea, as limited by Vieillot, 

 is thus characterised : 



Bill strong, straight, or slightly curved, compressed, acuminated, 

 sharp, in most species finely toothed ; the upper mandible somewhat 

 channeled, and usually notched towards the tip ; nostrils OB the side, 

 almost at the base, slit lengthwise in the groove, and half shut by a 

 membrane ; eyes with a naked circle around them extending to the 

 bill ; legs long, slender, and either half-naked or feathered down to 

 the shank (tarsus) ; the middle fore toe united to the outer one by 

 a short membrane ; the hind toe articulated interiorly, and upon the 

 same level as the others ; the second and third quill-feathers of the 

 wings the longest. 



HERONS. 



M. Temminck thus defines the Herons properly so called: Bill 

 much longer than the head, as large as it is high, or larger, at the 

 base ; upper mandible nearly straight ; a great portion of the tibia 

 naked. Food, fish principally. 





Bill of Common Heron. 



It will only be necessary to give a sketch of the leading forms of 

 this group. We proceed therefore to illustrate M. Temminck's first 

 section of the true Herons by the Common Heron, which most authors 

 consider an the type. 



The Common Heron is, in the opinion of Belon and some others, 

 the 'EpcuSwir of Aristotle, but we do not consider this as cer- 

 tain : the term 'Ejxuo'io's is doubtless applied by Aristotle to the 

 form ('Hist. Anim.', viil, 3), but what species is meant by him 

 is not so clear. But the 

 bird is, without doubt, the 

 Ardea of the Romans. It is 

 the Beccapace, Airone, Oca- 

 Cicogna, and Sgarza, of the 

 modern Italians; the Garza 

 of the Spaniards ; Reyger 

 and Rheier of the Germans ; 

 ///< of the French ; Cryr 

 gldi of the ancient British ; 

 and Common Heron, or 

 Heronshav:, of the modern 

 British. 



Detcription. Plumage 

 bluish-ash ; middle toe, the 

 nail included, much shorter 

 than the tarsus. 



Male and Female after the 

 Third Tear. Long loose 

 black feathers on the 

 back of the head; similar 

 feathers or plumes of a 

 lustrous white depend from 

 the lower part of the neck ; 

 the equally elongated and 

 subulate scapulars are of a 



silvery-ash. Forehead, neck, Common Heron (Ardra cinrrea}. 



middle of the belly, border of the wings and thighs, pure white ; occiput, 

 aides of the breast, and flanks, deep black. On the front of the neck 

 are large longitudinal black and ash spots. Back and wings very pure 

 bluish-ash ; bill deep yellow ; iris yellow ; naked skin of the eye 

 bluish-purple ; feet brown, but of a lively red towards the feathered 

 part. Length 3 feet and upwards. In this state M. Temminck, whose 

 description we have given, states the bird to be the Ardea cinerea 

 (male) of Latham ('Index') ; Ardea major of Omelin; Le Heron Hupp( 

 of Buffon; Hfron common of Gerard; Common Heron (male) ol 

 Latham (' Syn.'), Pennant ( ' Brit. ZooV), and Albin ; Athgrauer Rheier 

 of Meyer and others ; and Sgarza cencrino of the ' Stor. degl. Uec.' 



Young up to the Aye of Three Years. No crest, or at most the 

 plumes composing it very short; no long loose feathers at the lower 

 part of the neck, nor above the wings ; forehead and top of the head 

 ash-colour; throat white ; neck clear ash, with numerous spots of a 

 deeper colour than the ground ; back and wings bluish-ash, mingled 

 with brown and whitish ; breast marked with longitudinal spots ; 



[u thid state M. Temminck considers the bird to be the A rdea cinei-ea 

 female) of Latham ; A rdea Rlicnana of Sander ; Le Heron, of 

 Buffon ; Common Heron (female) of Latham ; Sgarsa, marina, of the 

 ' Stor. degl. Ucc.' ; and De Blaauwe Reiger (being the young in the first 

 year) of Sepp. 



The edge of the bill is serrated near the point, and the nail of the 

 middle toe pectinated, as in the Herons generally. 



Variety. Nearly perfectly white. A variety of this description is 

 figured by Frisch (t. 204) ; but it is very rare. 



Habits, Food, Reproduction, <tc. The solitary habits of the Common 

 Heron, excepting at the season of reproduction, are well known. At 

 that period they congregate at their breeding stations, or heronries, 

 for which the loftiest trees are generally chosen. Pennant says that 

 at Cressi Hall, near Gosberton, in Lincolnshire, he counted more than 

 eighty nests in one tree. Montagu notices a heronry on a small island 

 in a lake in the north of Scotland, whereon there was only one scrubby 

 oak. This being too small to contain all the nests, the herons, rather 

 than abandon their society and a favourite station, had many of them 

 placed their nests on the ground. In the south and west of England 

 the heronries in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, at Brockley in 

 Somersetshire, and at Powderham Castle in Devonshire, are worthy of 

 notice. The nest is built of sticks, and is large and flat. It is lined 

 with wool or other soft materials, and on this lining are deposited 

 four or five bluish-green lustreless eggs. The young are less pre- 

 possessing in appearance than nestlings in general, but few of which 

 are pleasant to look upon, and they remain in the nest for five or six 

 weeks, during which time the old birds unceasingly supply them with 

 fish, &c. There are sometimes deadly feuds between the herons and 

 the rooks, originating hi a dispute for the possession of the nest-trees. 

 Dr. Heysham's account of one of these battles at Dallam Tower, 

 in Westmorland, originating in the felling of the fine old oaks 

 occupied by the herons, and their consequent attempt upon the grove 

 in the tenure of the rooks, is well worth perusal. The herons had 

 the best of the fray for two successive seasons, and at length a sort 

 of peace was patched up between the combatants ; the rooks and the 

 herons severally setting up their nests on a particular part of the now 

 only remaining grove, and leaving the other moiety to the opposite 

 faction. 



Buffon draws largely upon his imagination for a picture of 

 wretchedness, and then makes the heron a personification of it, with 

 as much foundation as characterises most of his fancies of this 

 description. When on its fishing station, the bird stands immoveable 

 as a stump, with the neck bent and between the shoulders, watching 

 for the passing fish, which it unerringly spears with its sharp bill. 

 But besides fish and reptiles, such as frogs, newts, &c.. mice, young 

 water-rats, and even young water-fowl, are occasionally devoured by 

 it. Mr. Selby, hi his excellent ' Illustrations of British Ornithology,' 

 gives, on the authority of Mr. Neill, of Canonmills, near Edinburgh, 

 two interesting anecdotes in illustration of the habits of this bird in 

 a state of half -domestication. " The Common Heron (a male)," says 

 Mr. Neill, " which was winged on Coldingham Muir in autumn, 1821, 

 when a young bird, and given to me in 1822 by Mr. John Wilson, of 

 the College, has since resided in my garden at Canonmills, and is now 

 so tame that he often follows me, expecting a piece of cheese, which 

 he relishes. Four years ago Mr. Allan, of Lauriston, sent me a young 

 female which had been taken during a severe storm. She soon asso- 

 ciated with the older bird. In summer, 1828, she laid three or four 

 eggs (I am not sure which) on the top of a wall next to the mill-pond. 

 She then laid one or two on the flower-border below the wall, and 

 close by the box-edging : here some eggs were broken by the birds 

 suddenly starting off when alarmed by strangers walking in the 

 garden. We supplied their place by some bantam eggs, and only one 

 heron egg at last remained. Alas ! the poor hen, having strayed to 

 the margin of the mill-pond, was shot by some thoughtless young 

 man with a fowling-piece. The cock continued to sit for several 

 entire days after the death of the hen, but at last tired. He used to 

 sit when she went off for food. During the whole time of pairing 

 the cock was very bold, raising his feathers and snapping his bill 

 whenever any one approached." 



Mr. Neill further adds a fact, showing that the bird can swim upon 

 occasion. " A large old willow-tree," writes Mr. Neill in continuation, 

 " had fallen down into the pond, and at the extremity, which is partly 

 sunk in the sludge, and continues to vegetate, water-hens breed. The 

 old cock heron swims out to the nest, and takes the young, if he can. 

 He has to swim 10 or 12 feet, where the water is between 2 and 3 feet 

 deep. His motion through the water is slow, but his carriage stately. 

 I have seen him fell a rat by one blow on the back of the head, when 

 the rat was munching at his dish of fish." 



Geographical Distribution. Very extensive, and embracing the 

 greater part of the Old World. (Selby.) It is permanent in England. 

 Dr. Latham says, " In England and the milder climates this species 

 of heron is stationary, migratory in the colder, according to the 

 season ; is rarely seen far north. Inhabits Africa and Asia in general, 

 the Cape of Good Hope, Calcutta, and other parts of India, and is 

 found in America from Carolina to New York." With regard to the 

 American locality, Dr. Latham appears to have taken the Great Heron 

 (Ardea Herodiae, Linnaeus), for the Common Heron, which last is 

 not mentioned by any of the ornithologists who have made the birds 



