98 GAME BIRDS. 



he soars, bearing the captive to his nest. The heron, as well as 

 most of the waders, is capable of swimming for a short time. 



The brow and crown of the head are white, bordered above the 

 eyes with black lines, which reach the nape of the neck, where 

 they join a large, flowing, pendent crest, of the same colour. 

 The upper part of the neck in some is white, in others pale ash ; 

 the fore part lower down is spotted with a double row of black 

 feathers, and those which fall over the breast are long, loose, and 

 webbed. The shoulders and scapular feathers are also of the 

 same kind of texture, of a gray colour, generally streaked with 

 white, and spread over its down-clothed back. The ridge of the 

 wing is white, coverts and secondaries lead colour, bastard wings 

 and quills of a bluish black, as are also the long, soft feathers 

 which take their rise on the sides, under the wings, and, falling 

 down, meet at their tips, and hide all the under parts ; the latter, 

 next the skin, are covered with a thick, matted dirty-white down, 

 except about the belly and vent, which are almost bare. The 

 tail is short, and consists of twelve feathers, of a cinerous or 

 brownish lead colour ; the legs are dirty green, long, bare above 

 the knees, and the middle claw is jagged on the inner edge. 



The female has not the long, flowing crest, or the long feathers 

 which hang over the breast of the male, and her whole plumage 

 is more uniformly dull and obscure. In the breeding season, 

 they congregate in large societies, and, like the rooks, build their 

 nests on trees, with sticks, lined with dry grass, wool, and other 

 warm materials. The female lays from four to six eggs, of a pale, 

 greenish-blue colour. If they cannot find suflScient accommodation 

 in the trees, they occasionally build their nests on the shelves of 

 rocks, or even on the ground. 



There are heronries at Kent, Yorkshire, Penrith, Lincolnshire, 

 near Bristol, Dorsetshire, Windsor, Ayrshire ; and in Ireland, at 

 Santry, near Dublin, Louth, Antrim, Deny, Donegal, Sligo, 

 Galway, Kerry, Cork, Waterford, &c. At present, in conse- 

 quence of the discontinuance of hawking, little attention is paid 

 to the protection of heronries, though none of the old statutes 

 respecting them have been repealed. 



