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HERON. 



approach near them without raising them on the wing. 

 They are particularly afraid of the more powerful 

 hawks and of the swamp eagles, especially when they 

 are fishiner, and spy a bird of this kind above them ; 

 but, when driven to extremities, they fight with con- 

 siderable resolution either on the -ground or in the 

 air ; and, indeed, they can strike desperately with the 

 bill, though winged or otherwise crippled. A place 

 where herons breed, for the nests are scarcely ever 

 single, is called a heronry. The nests are broad and 

 shallow, formed of sticks, and lined with soft vege- 

 table matters, or with wool, if the birds can procure 

 it. They are very constant to their breeding-places ; 

 and Dr. Hevsham mentions an instance, in which 

 a dislodged colony of herons took possession of part 

 of a rookery, but not until after a desperate battle, in 

 which many on both sides were killed. The eggs of 

 the heron seldom exceed four, but they are sometimes 

 as many as six. They are of a greenish-blue colour, 

 and about the size of ducks' eggs. The female sits 

 closely during the incubation, and is fed by the male ; 

 and, after the young are hatched, both birds join in 

 the labour of feeding them, which, from their voracity 

 and vigorous digestion, is no easy task, 



THE GREAT HERON (A. herodim). This is an 

 American species, resembling the common heron of 

 Europe both in shape and in colour ; but it is consi- 

 derably larger in size, and almost double the weight. 

 Its length from the point of the bill to the tail is four 

 feet four ; and the legs extend a foot beyond the tail. 

 The extent of the wings is fully six feet ; and the 

 weight not less than seven pounds, while that of the 

 common heron is generally less than four. It is 

 highly probable, however, that when the common 

 heron is mentioned as an inhabitant of North America, 

 this is the bird alluded to ; and though the size is 

 larger, the bill longer, and the feet differently coloured, 

 it is probable that the origin of the two may have 

 been the same. 



Abounding as it does in woods and waters, above 

 all countries of the same extent which are met with ! 

 on the surface of the earth, America is the very home 

 of the herons. The species are very numerous, and ! 

 the birds themselves abundant; and though the woods \ 

 of America are remarkable for the multitudes of their ', 

 birds, there is perhaps no race which are so characteris- 

 tic as the herons. It would far exceed our limits to give '' 

 any thing like a detailed account of the different 

 species or of the peculiarities of the country ; but we ' 

 shall quote a passage from Wilson, in which the sin- ' 

 gular dwellings of the birds are pourtrayed with more ! 

 graphic effect than has been done or could be done ! 

 by any other writer, even though, like Wilson, a per- j 

 sonal visitant. After mentioning that they are found | 

 in greater numbers on the Atlantic coast than in the ! 

 central valleys, and pointing out some localities ! 

 which are favojirite ones with them, Wilson thus pro- ! 

 ceeds to describe their building-places. " These are 

 generally in the gloomy solitudes of the tallest cedar 

 swamps, where, if unmolested, they continue an- ! 

 nually to breed for many years. These swamps are ' 

 from half a mile to a mile in breadth, and sometimes ! 

 five or six in length, and appear as if they occupied j 

 the former channel of some choked up river, stream, 

 lake, or arm of the sea. The appearance they pre- 

 sent to a stranger is singular. A front of tall and 

 perfectly straight trunks, rising to the height of fifty j 

 or sixty feet without a limb, and crowded in every 

 duuction, their tops so closely woven together as to ' 



shut out the day, spreading the gloom of a perpetual 

 twilight below. On a nearer approach, they are 

 found to rise out of the water, which, from the im- 

 pregnation of the fallen leaves and roots of the cedars, 

 is of the colour of brandy. Amidst this bottom of 

 congregated springs, the ruins of the former forest 

 lie piled in every state of confusion. The roots, 

 prostrate logs, and, in many places, the water?, 

 are covered with green mantling moss ; while an 

 undergrowth of laurel, fifteen or twenty feet high, 

 intersects every opening so completely, as to render 

 a passage through laborious and harassing beyond 

 description ; at every step, you either sink to the 

 knees, clamber over fallen timber, squeeze yourself 

 through between the stubborn laurels, or plunge to 

 the middle in ponds made by the uprooting of large 

 trees, and which the green moss concealed from 

 observation. In calm weather, the silence of death 

 reigns in these dreary regions ; a few interrupted 

 rays of light shoot across the gloom ; and unless for 

 the occasional hollow screams of the herons, and the 

 melancholy chirping of one or two species of small 

 birds, all is silence, solitude, and desolation. When 

 a breeze rises, at lirstit sighs mournfully through the 

 tops ; but, as the gale increases, the tall mast-like 

 cedars wave like fishing-poles, and, rubbing against 

 each other, produce a variety of singular noises, that, 

 with the help of a little imagination, resemble shrieks, 

 groans, growling bears, wolves, and such like com- 

 fortable music. On the tops of the tallest of these 

 cedars the herons construct their nests, ten or fifteen 

 pair sometimes occupying a particular part of the 

 swamp. The nests are large, formed of sticks, and 

 lined with smaller twigs ; each occupies the top of a 

 single tree. The eggs are generally four in number, 

 of an oblong pointed form, larger than those of a hen, 

 and of a light greenish blue, without any spots. The 

 young are produced about the middle of May, and 

 remain on the trees until they are full as heavy as the 

 old ones, being extremely fat before they are able to 

 fly. They breed but once in the season. If dis- 

 turbed in their breeding-place, the old birds fly occa- 

 sionally over the spot, sometimes houking like a goose, 

 sometimes uttering a coarse hollow grunting noise, 

 like that of a hog, but much louder. The great heron 

 is said to be fut at the full moon, and lean at its de- 

 crease ; this might be accounted for by the fact of 

 their fishing regularly by moonlight through the 

 greater part of the night, as well as during the day ; 

 but the observation is not universal, for at such times 

 I have found some lean as well as others fat. The 

 young birds are said to be excellent for the table, and 

 even the old birds, when in good order, and properly 

 cooked, are esteemed by many. The principal food 

 of the great heron is fish, for which he watches with 

 the most unwearied patience, and seizes them with 

 surprising dexterity. At the edge of the river, pond, 

 or sea-shore, he stands, fixed and motionless, some- 

 times for hours together. But his stroke is as quick 

 as thought and as sure as fate, to the first luckless fish 

 that approaches within his reach ; these he some- 

 times beats to death, and always swallows head fore- 

 most, such being their uniform position in the stomach. 

 He is also an excellent mouser, and is of great service 

 to our meadows, in destroying the short-tailed or 

 meadow mouse, so injurious to the banks. He also 

 feeds eagerly upon grasshoppers, various winged 

 insects, particularly dragon-flies, which he is very ex- 

 pert at striking ; and also eats the seeds of that 



