34 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Herons 



bluish green. The young remain five or six weeks 

 in the nest, and the old birds unceasinely supply 

 their voracious appetite with fish, and defend them 

 with ijreat resolution. 



The colouring of the heron in full plumage, 

 which is not attained till the third year, is as fol- 

 lows: — Long, loose, black feathers adorn the back 

 of the head, and similar 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, middle of the belly, border of the 

 wings, and thighs pure white ; occiput, sides of the 

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

 neck are large longitudinal black and ash spots. 

 Back and wings verj' pure bluish-ash ; bill deep yel- 

 low ; iris yellow; naked skin of the eye bluish 

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

 feathered part. Length three feet and upwards. 



190t, 1905.— The BiTrsRN 



(Bottmnu stellarit). Butor of the French ; Uccello 

 lepre and Trombutto of the Italians; Kohrdommel 

 of the Germans. 



The Bittern is found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 

 and was once common in England, when, in the 

 palmy days of falconry, it afforded one of the " great 

 flights," and was protected by severe penalties, but 

 is now comparatively scarce, though a few are said 

 still to breed in the fenny counties. Its flesh, rank 

 as we should deem it, was accounted a great de- 

 licacy. 



The bittern frequents wild morasses and the oozy 

 banks of large rivers, where extensive tracts over- 

 grown with flags, reeds, and bulrushes afford it an 

 asylum. In the midst of these it crouches during 

 the day, and is with difficulty roused to take wing, 

 when it flies slowly away to a distant haunt, uttering 

 from time to time a resounding cry, different from 

 the " boom," which is peculiar to the breeding sea- 

 son, which has given rise to some of its provincial 

 names, as Mire-drum and BuU-of-the-Bog : this 

 noise has been erroneously supposed to be made by 

 the bird while plunging his bill into the mud, and is 

 first heard in February or March, while — 



•* A* vet the trembling year is unconliniied. 

 And winter oft Kt eve resumes the breexe, 

 Chills Uie pale mom, uid bids his driving sleets 

 TVform the dsy deliffhtlest— so that scarce 

 The Bittern know-s his time, with bill en(ruird 

 To shake ttie sounding marsh ; or from the shore 

 The Plovers when to scatter o'er the heath 

 And sing their wild notes to the listening waste." 



Tfiomsoa. 



During the early part of spring the bittern 

 "booms" from the midst of the marsh at intervals 

 throughout the day, and then on the approach of 

 dusk he soars spirally to a vast height, uttering his 

 hollow boom, which sounds not unlike the cieep- 

 toned roar of a bull. 



The nest of this bird is a rude structure, and 

 placed not on trees, but by itself in the solitude of 

 the morass, on some slight elevation. The eggs, 

 five in number, are of a pale green. The bittern, 

 when wounded, defends itself with great determina- 

 tion, throwing itself on its back like a bird of prey, 

 and launching its formidable beak with great force 

 against its enemy, generally aiming at the eye : 

 consequently it is not to be approached without 

 caution. In olden days, when the hawk had brought 

 the bittern down, it was the falconer's first care to 

 plunge the bill of the latter into the ground, lest the 

 nawk should be impaled. 



In size the bittern is rather less than the heron. 

 The plumage is beautifully varied with spots, bars, 

 and dashes of black on a fine reddish yellow ground. 

 The feathers of the head and neck are long and 

 loose, and capable of being thrown forward. Bill 

 brown above, greenish below ; iris yellow ; legs pale 

 green ; middle claw pectinated. Frogs, field-mice, 

 newts, and fish, with the buds of the water-lily and 

 other aquatic plants, constitute the food of the 

 bittern. 



1906, 1907.— Thk Night-Hebon 



{Nycticorax Ewropaut). Ardea Nycticorax, Linn. ; 

 Bihoreaii and Roupeau of the French ; Scarza 

 Nitticora of the Italians ; der Nacht-Raiher of the 

 Germans. In its young state, the Spotted and Gar- 

 denian Heron of Latham ; Night-raven. 



This species is very widely spread over Asia, 

 Africa, and Southern Europe ; but in America is 

 represented by the Quarbird (N. Americanus 

 Bonap.), till lately confounded with it. In our 

 islands the night-heron is a bird of rare and acci- 

 dental occurrence ; it has been killed at Frogmore, 

 near iVindsor, and in other places : in Spain it is 

 common, and in the adjacent countries. In many 

 respects it resembles the common heron in its man- 

 ners, breeding, like that bird, in society, on the top- 

 most branches of trees, and roosting during the day 

 in tne recesses of woods adjacent to wild swamps 

 and rivers, which it visits on the approach of twi- 

 light in quest of prey. Daring the flight of these 

 birds to their fishing-stations, and throughout the 

 night, they continually utter a hoarse hollow croak, 



ominous of death, in the ears of superstition, as we 

 believe is also the boom of the bittern, at which 

 dread roar the credulous wayfarer of the night has 

 stood aghast with terror. 



Wilson, speaking of the American species, or 

 Qua-bird, which visits Philadelphia in great num- 

 bers, breeding in the tall trees of the vast cedar- 

 swamps, says that " on entering the swamp the noise 

 of the old and of the young would almost induce one 

 to suppose that two or three hundred Indians were 

 choking or throttling each other. The instant an 

 intruder is discovered, the whole rise in the air in 

 silence, and remove to the tops of the trees in another 

 part of the woods, while parties of from eight to ten 

 make occasional circuits over the spot to see what 

 is going on." While flying from their roost to the 

 marshes, about the beginning of evening twilight, he 

 says, they utter "in a hoarse and hollow tone the 

 word Qua," whence the name Qua-bird. 



In the night-heron the legs are not so long in 

 proportion, nor is the space above the tarsal joint 

 naked for so great an extent, as in the common 

 heron. The middle and outer toe are connected at 

 the base by a membrane, and the middle claw is 

 pectinated. 



The adult plumage is as follows : — Top of the 

 head, back, and scapulars black with bluish and 

 greenish reflexions; three white very narrow 

 feathers, six or seven inches in length, taking their 

 origin at the back of the head, just above the nape, 

 and descending backwards ; lower part of the back, 

 wings, and tail clear ash-colour ; forehead, space 

 above the eyes, throat, front of the neck, and lower 



f)arts white ; bill black, yellowish at the base of the 

 ower mandible ; iris red ; feet yellowish green. 

 Length rather more than one foot eight inches. 



In the young of the year the three long feathers 

 from the back of the head are wanting, and the 

 general plumage is of a brown tinge, dashed and 

 variegated with rufous : the lower parts being 

 clouded with brown, white, and ash-colour. 



1908.— The Tufted Umber 



(Scopus Umbretta) ; Ombrette of the French. In 

 this genus the bill deviates from that of the true 

 herons, in having the point decidedly deflected, the 

 tip of the upper mandible being abruptly hooked, 

 and that of the lower truncated. (See Fig. 1909, the 

 Bill of the Tufted Umber.) The nostrils are linear ; 

 the wings long ; the tail short and square ; the legs 

 moderate. All the toes are united at the base by a 

 membrane. 



Of this form, but one species, the tufled umber, is 

 known; a bird extensively spread throughout 

 Africa, and characterized by a peculiarly soft and 

 lax plumage, the back of the head in the male being 

 furnished with a full puffy crest. The general 

 colour of this bird is deep umber brown, whence 

 its name ; the crest being of a much paler tint. 

 Size, that of a crow. Habits not recorded. 



1910.— The Boatbill 



(Cancroma cochleared). Le Savacou of the French. 

 Notwithstanding the strange form which the beak 

 assumes in the present genus, the Boatbill is closely 

 allied to the herons, and has in a great degree the 

 same habits and manners ; its beak, however, instead 

 of being straight, compressed, and pointed, is of an 

 oval form, much depressed, with a ridge along the 

 top of the upper mandible, which somewhat re- 

 sembles an inverted spoon, and to which the lower 

 mandible, of nearly the same figure, is applied, rim 

 in contact with rim. It is in fact the bill of a heron, 

 shortened, and flattened out laterally. The nostrils 

 are situated in a furrow along each side of the ridge. 

 The toes are three before and one behind. Legs 

 moderate. 



The Boatbill is a native of Guiana, Brazil, and 

 other parts of South America, and of recluse habits, 

 frequenting rivers, wide swamps, and marshes, 

 where it patiently watches, from its perch on some 

 branch overhanging the water, the movements of the 

 finny race, and precipitates itself, somewhat in the 

 manner of the kingfisher, on such as approach the 

 surfacu. It has been thought to live on crabs also, 

 whence the name Cancroma, but this is by no 

 means ascertained. Leach, indeed, in his ' Zoolo- 

 gical Miscellany,' 1815, says, that it feeds on fishes, 

 worms, and Crustacea, in quest of which it is con- 

 tinually traversing the borders of the sea. Lesson, 

 in his ' Manuel,' 1828, says that the boatbill perches 

 on trees by the side of rivers, where it feeds not 

 on crabs, as its name indicates, but on fish : he 

 speaks of it as inhabiting the flooded savannahs of 

 South America, and as being especially common 

 in Guiana. Some years since an individual of this 

 species was living in Exeter 'Change ; it had the 

 lorn melancholy aspect of the herons, and was fed 

 principally on fish. Of its mode of incubation and 

 the minor details of its history, nothing appears to 

 be known. 



In the male, from the top of the head arises a 

 long plume of jet-black narrow feathers, pointed. 



and falling down upon the back, producing a beau- 

 tiful efi'ect. The throat is bare : the forehead and 

 neck, of which latter the feathers are elongated and 

 form a sort of mane very characteristic of the 

 herons, are greyish white. The back, also orna- 

 mented with long feathers, is of a fine grey, some- 

 times with a rusty tinge ; the tail is white ; the 

 sides are black, the middle of the under surface 

 deep reddish brown. Bill blackish ; legs brown. 

 Claw of middle toe pectinated. In the temale the 

 feathers of the top of the head are black, without 

 being elongated into a pendent crest. In size this 

 bird somewhat exceeds a common duck, but, with 

 the exception of the beak, exhibits the general con- 

 tour of the herons. 



1911— 1915.— The Stohk 

 (Ciconia alba). In the genus Ciconia the bill is 

 long, straight, robust, subconic, unfurrowed, and 

 pointed, with the culmen, or upper ridge, sul)- 

 cultrated. The nostrils are linear, and pierced in 

 the horny substance of the upper mandible near the 

 base. The legs are long, and naked high above the 

 tarsal joint. The hind toe is short, the middle toe 

 long, and joined to the outer one by a large mem- 

 brane, and by a smaller to the inner toe. The 

 claws are short, blunt, and entire. Fig. 1916 re- 

 presents the Bill of the Stork. The birds of this 

 genus are gregarious and migratory; they mostly 

 prefer flat marshy countries, aad feed upon frogs and 

 other reptiles, mice, moles, worms, insects, and eels. 

 Their appetite is, in fact, extremely voracious. In 

 the countries frequented by them they are held in 

 high regard for the sake of their utility, and are ac- 

 cordingly protected. 



The range of the Common or White Stork 

 (Cicogne blanche, Buffon ; Weisser Storch, Meyer) 

 is very extensive, being everywhere a bird of migra- 

 tory habits. The vast flocks that have visited 

 Europe, and sojourned there during the summer, 

 collect together, and wing their way for the warmer 



Sarts of Asia and Africa, there to pass the winter, 

 ielon stales, that when in Abyssinia, during the 

 month of August, a great flight of storks came from 

 the north, and when they reached the commence 

 ment of the Mediterranean Sea, they there made 

 many circuitous turns, and then dispersed into 

 smaller companies ; and Dr. Shaw informs us that 

 when he was journeying o^er Mount Carmel he saw 

 the annual migration of those which had quitted 

 Egypt, and that each of the flocks was half a mile 

 in breadth, and occupied three hours in passing 

 over. Their course is usually unattended with any 

 noise, excepting that of their wings; but when any- 

 thing occurs to startle them or engage their at- 

 tention, they make an extraordinary clattering 

 noise, which may be heard to a great distance, by 

 striking the mandibles quickly and forcibly together. 



The stork breeds in Turkey, Syria, Greece, and 

 Egypt, but it also visits Europe, and is common in 

 Holland and Germany, extending its migrations to 

 Sweden and Northern Russia. In Seville, it is 

 abundant ; but, according to the Prince of Canino, 

 is only an accidental visitor near Rome. 



When we consider how abundant the stork is in 

 Holland, and that it extends its migrations to more 

 northern latitudes, it is somewhat surprising that 

 individuals should so rarely visit our marshes — per- 

 haps it was foi-merly more common than at present, 

 and its rarity may be attributed partly to the 

 drainage of our great morasses and partly to the 

 persecution which it would assuredly bring down 

 upon itself by such an untoward visit, whereas on 

 the Continent it has for ages experienced the utmost 

 toleration. In Holland and Germany the stork 

 approaches without fear the dwellings of man, and 

 is treated as a welcome guest ; annually returning 

 to the steeple or the turret, or to the false chimney 

 erected by the Hollander for its nest, and which has 

 been the nursery of many a generation, 



The stump of a decayed tree is sometimes chosen 

 as the site of the nest ; but wherever it takes up its 

 abode it is there respected. In Spain, says Dr. 

 Southey, the storks build their brood-nests on the 

 towers of churches, and are held sacred; and Dillon 

 states that in Seville almost every tower in the city 

 is peopled with them, and that they annually return 

 to the same nests. One of the causes of their being 

 venerated is their destroying all the vermin on the 

 tops of the houses. At Bagdad, Niebuhr says, 

 hundreds of these birds are to be seen there on every 

 house, wall, and tree, quite tame. We are told by 

 Fryer that they are so exceedingly numerous among 

 the ruins of Persepolis, that the summit of almost 

 every pillar of these magnificent monuments of 

 antiquity contains a storks nest (Fig. 1917). 



It would appear that the Turks hold this bird in 

 more than usual esteem ; their name for it is Hadji 

 Lug-lug : the former word, which is the honorary 

 title of Pilgrim, it owes to its migrations and appa- 

 rent attachment to their sacred edifices; the latter 

 is a word formed in imitation of the noise which the 

 bird makes. The regard of the Turks Is so far 



