190 



ARDISIA ARDUINA. 



and on that account the herons then resort to the 

 waters. On dark and gloomy days, which -often put 

 herons' food in motion, one cannot always easily tell 

 why, the birds are often by the water all day long 1 . 

 They often frequent the banks after Hoods to pick up 

 the stranded or migrant fishes ; of the latter of which 

 eels form no inconsiderable portion. 



In those countries which have dry and rainy 

 seasons alternately, they are much more migrant 

 than in temperate climates where the state of the 

 waters is uniform ; and when they are, as one would 

 say, " dried out" in their native haunts, a few of 

 those which belong to countries of the former cha- 

 racter often straggle into the latter. The principal 

 distinguishing characters of the herons are the bill 

 long and strong, compressed laterally, and tapering 

 gradually to the point, which is remarkably sharp. 

 The general form is nearly straight, but sometimes a 

 very little arched. The tomia are generally finely 

 toothed or serrated, and the bill is furnished with a 

 notch. The nostrils are lateral near the base of the bill, 

 placed rather obliquely, and half closed by a mem- 

 brane ; from them slight grooves or channels proceed 

 along the upper mandible, and are gradually obli- 

 terated towards the tip ; and the gape extends as 

 far backward as the eyes, admits of considerable 

 distension, and is opened and closed with great 

 rapidity. The eyes are surrounded by naked skin, 

 which extends to the gape. The head is small but 

 compact, and often furnished with a beautiful flowing 

 crest to the hind head, which appears to guide and 

 steady the stroke of the bill, in the same manner as 

 feathering guides and steadies a dart or arrow. The 

 neck is very long and slender, and remarkable alike 

 for the rapidity and the grace of its flexures. In the 

 true herons the lower part of the neck is surrounded 

 by a sort of ruff or produced and pointed feathers, 

 which appear to regulate the motions of that organ 

 something in the same manner as the crest regulates 

 the motions of the bill. The following figure will 

 give some idea of the head and neck of the common 

 heron, which in Europe may be regarded as the type 

 of the genus. 



Head of the Common Heron. 



The body is very small for the apparent size of 

 the bird ; and in some of the species it is ornamented 

 with very peculiar but very beautiful produced fea- 

 thers arising from the scapulars or other parts of the 

 back. The tarsi are very long, rather slender, but 

 admirably protected from the decomposing action of 

 water, and from changes of temperature, by the 

 nature of their covering. They are always naked 

 to their articulation with the tibiae ; and in some of 



the species these parts are also bare of feathers for 

 half their length. The toes are three before and 

 one behind ; the hind one articulated on the suim> 

 level with the others, but turned inward, The middle 

 and outer ones are united by a small membrane at 

 their bases ; but it does not in any way approximate to 

 the nature of a web, neither are the birds.in any way 

 adapted for swimming. The claw on the middle 

 toe has a sort of prominent tubercle on its inner 

 side ; but the claws altogether are nails rather than 

 organs either of prehension or perching. The fact 

 is, that though the birds nestle and also rest them- 

 selves on trees, they stand rather than perch ; and 

 hence they are always so near the tops, that when 

 they raise themselves on their long legs, they can 

 extend their wings, and take flight without any inter- 

 ruption from the branches. The wings are very 

 long ; but they are rather blunt, and adapted more 

 for forward flight than for turning. The second and 

 third quills are the longest, and both of nearly the 

 same length. The wings are hollow and take a great 

 deal of air in their under sides ; but though the flight 

 when the bird is high and on a journey is by no 

 means slow, it has a loose appearance, as the body 

 is too light for affording a steady point of rest for 

 the action of the wings, but plays upwards a little 

 with their downward stroke, and downwards with 

 their upward one. 



Still, in places where they resort (and the common 

 ones are social), herons are very ornamental birds, 

 and, in all their attitudes when extended, give an 

 idea of magnitide which their weigh! by no means 

 justifies ; and when a heron denuded of its feathers 

 is compared with one of the same size in full plumage, 

 it seems a mere skeleton, and but for the bill and the 

 legs, one could hardly believe that the two birds 

 belong to the same species. If there are fish-ponds 

 near a heronry, the birds levy severe contributions 

 upon the fish. Herons are also said to flatten and 

 stunt the tops of those trees in which they take up 

 their abode, as their mutings are acrid, and destroy 

 both the leaves and the young shoots. Where 

 they do take up their abode, however, they in- 

 habit very pertinaciously ; but the beauty, and 

 almost royal character of their plumage, makes ample 

 amends for any inconvenience of this kind. See 

 HERON. 



ARDISIA (Swartz). A genus containingtwenty- 

 three species of tropical plants chiefly shrubs. Lin- 

 naean class and order Pentandria Monogynia ; na- 

 tural order Myrsinece. Generic character : calyx five- 

 cleft ; corolla, salver-shaped ; tube short, segments 

 of the limb spreading and a little reflexed ; stamens 

 awl-shaped, inserted in the tube of the corolla : 

 anthers, lance-shaped, connivent ; style awl-shaped 

 with a simple stigma ; fruit a one-seeded berry. As 

 ornamental plants they deserve a place in stove 

 collections ; yielding frequently cymes of showy red 

 or white flowers. 



ARDUINA (Linnaeus). A single plant and 

 evergreen shrub, introduced from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and named after Pietro Andruina of Padua, 

 Linnaean class and' order Pentandria Monogynia ; 

 natural order Apocynece. Generic character : calyx, 

 five-parted, persisting ; corolla, somewhat funnel- 

 shaped, limb five-cleft ; stamens included ; style 

 bifid ; fruit a two-seeded berry. This is a beautiful 

 stove plant, somewhat like box, propagated by cut- 

 tings under a hand-glass. 



