COCOI HERON 97 



or is in the act of watching something below it ; and 

 the Heron's life is almost a perpetual watch. Apropos 

 of this manner of carrying the neck, so natural to the 

 bird, is it not the cause of the extreme wariness 

 observable in Herons $ Herons are, I think, every- 

 where of a shy disposition ; with us they are the 

 wildest of water-fowl, yet there is no reason for their 

 being so, since they are never persecuted. 



Birds ever fly reluctantly from danger ; and all 

 species possessing the advantage of a long neck, such 

 as the Swan, Flamingo, Stork, Spoonbill, etc., will 

 continue with their necks stretched to their utmost 

 capacity watching an intruder for an hour at a time 

 rather than fly away. But in the Herons it must be 

 only by a great effort that the neck can be wholly 

 unbent ; for even if the neck cut out from a dead 

 bird be forcibly straightened and then released, it 

 flies back like a piece of india-rubber to its original 

 shape. Therefore the effort to straighten the neck, 

 invariably the first expression of alarm and curiosity, 

 must be a painful one ; and to keep it for any length 

 of time in that position is probably as insupportable 

 to the bird as to keep the arm straightened vertically 

 would be to a man. Thus the Heron flies at the first 

 sight of an intruder, whilst the persecuted Duck, 

 Swan, or other fowl continues motionless, watching 

 with outstretched neck, participating in the alarm 

 certainly, but not enduring actual physical pain. 



Doubtless in many cases habits react upon and 

 modify the structure of parts ; and in this instance 

 the modified structure has in its turn apparently 



O II 



