NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HERON. 



^OS 



neck, and yellow and brown tints, dotted with darker 

 ones at the sides and flanks. The Latins named the 

 bittern, stellaris, or the " star-reaching," while the 

 Greeks, taldng its character from its more constant 

 habits, have given it the title of the okios, or the 

 "lazy." 



THE HERON. 



The Common Heron {Ardea Cinerea). — When 

 heron hawldng was a favourite sport of the British 

 nobility, great pains were taken for the preservation 

 of the species. The heavy penalty of ten shillings 

 was enforced upon every person who destroyed its 

 eggs ; twenty shillings upon him that killed the bird 



