732 



HERON. 



and abdomen russet, the flanks bright purple, and the 

 breast the same ; the bill and naked skin round the 

 eyes are bright yellow ; the irides orange yellow ; 

 the under parts ot the toes, the rear of the tarsi, and 

 the naked skin above the tarsal joints, yellow ; and 

 the scales on the fore parts of the tarsi and upper 

 parts of the toes greenish brown. 



The young have no crest on the hind head, al- 

 though its place is indicated by the leathers being a 

 little more produced, and they also want the long 

 feathers on the neck and the scapulars ; they have 

 the forehead black, the nape and cheeks bright red, 

 the throat white, the hind part of the lower neck 

 yellowish white, with lines of black ; the back, 

 scapulars, wings, and tail, are blackish ash, bordered 

 with bright russet, and the thighs and belly white ; a 

 considerable part of the upper mandible is blackish, 

 but all the under one, and the naked skin round the 

 eyes, bright yellow. In this state they have been 

 described as a separate species, under the name of 

 the African Heron. In its nesting-places this bird 

 resembles the bitterns ; but in its food, and manner 

 of obtaining it, it is a true heron, differing little in 

 these respects from the common grey heron. 



THE SQUACCO HKRON (A. rallo'ides). This species 

 has the tarsi much shorter than the typical herons, 

 and in this respect approaches to the bitterns, but, in 

 many traits of its character, it has more resemblance 

 to the herons, and, like them, it is said to neslle in 

 trees. It is a very beautiful bird, and, though neither 

 so striking or so showy in its plumage as the white 

 herons, which have the produced feathers, it makes a 

 very remarkable contrast with them. The feathers 

 on the top of the head are yellow, margined with 

 black ; the crest, which consists of long and very 

 narrow pendent feathers, has each feather white in 

 the centre and black on the margin ; the throat is 

 white ; the neck, the scapulars, and the upper part 

 of the back, bright russet ; and the produced feathers, 

 which are very loose and flocculent in their webs, are 

 rich maroon. All the rest of the plumage is pure 

 white. The basal part of the bill is azure, and the 

 tip black ; the naked skin round the eyes greenish 

 grey ; the irides yellow ; and the feet yellow, with a 

 tinge of green ; the garter, or naked space above 

 the tarsal joint, is very short ; the length is about 

 seventeen inches. 



The young, till the third year, want the produced 

 feathers ; they have the head, the neck, and the 

 coverts of the wings, reddish brown, marked with 

 dark oblong spots of the same ; the throat, the 

 rurnp, and the tail, are pure white ; the quills ash- 

 colour, with the inner webs white ; the middle of the 

 back and the scapulars pale brown ; the upper 

 mandible greenish brown, and the lower greenish 

 yellow ; the naked skin round the eyes green ; the 

 irides bright yellow ; and the feet greenish ash. 

 The nests are in trees, but the number and appear- 

 ance of the eggs are not very well known. 



From the shortness of the tarsi, and the unfeathered 

 part of the tibiae above the joint, it may be inferred 

 that these birds do not wade so far into the waters or 

 fish so habitually as the more typical herons. They do 

 catch fish, but their food consists fully as much of in- 

 sects, shelled mollusca,and the smaller crustacea.and, on 

 the last account, they have been styled "crab-eaters." 



This species is very abundant in the countries 

 around the Mediterranean, and in the marshy parts 

 of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It also comes 



very frequently into Germany, Switzerland, and 

 France, though only as a migrant. It is also mor< j 

 frequently seen in England than any of the other 

 herons which belong to the south-eastern migration, 

 but still it does riot come so habitually, or in such 

 numbers, as to rank as a regular visitant. 



In many parts of the warmer countries there are 

 short-legged herons which bear a considerable re- 

 semblance to this one, and which are also styled crab- 

 eating herons. So little is known respecting them, 

 however, especially with regard to their nesting and 

 their plumage in the young and adult states ; and in 

 those parts of their history which are known, they 

 bear so close a resemblance to this one, that nothing 

 further could be added that would be of much interest 

 to the general reader. There is, however, one %ther 

 species, which is still smaller and more discursive than 

 any of those already mentioned, and therefore it may 

 be worth mentioning. 



LITTLE HERON (//. m'muta). This species is some- 

 times called the Danube heron, from its being fre- 

 quently seen in the valley of that river, though we 

 believe this name has been applied chiefly to the 

 younff, which, as in the rest of the genus, differs 

 greatly from the mature bird in its plumage. The top 

 of the head, the nape, the back, the secondary quill?, 

 and the tail, are of a rich black, with brilliant reflec- 

 tions of green ; the sides of the head, the neck, the 

 wing-coverts, and all the under parts of the body, are 

 reddish yellow, and the principal quills are blackish 

 ash ; the bill is brown at the point, and yellow in the 

 rest of its length ; the naked skin round the eyes and 

 the irides are yellow, and the feet yellowish green. 

 The length of the bird is about fourteen inches, and 

 the size nearly the same as that of a thrush. 



The young of the first year have the bill brown 

 and the feet green : the top of the head brown, and 

 the back of the neck whitish, with numerous longi- 

 tudinal brown streaks ; the sides of the head, the 

 nape, the breast, the back, and the wing-coverts, red- 

 dish brown, more or less dark, and mottled over with 

 numerous longitudinal brown streaks. It is in this 

 plumage that the bird is the rayed bittern of Latham, 

 and some other British describers. On the second 

 moult the longitudinal spots begin to disappear, the 

 plumes on the neck are bordered with russet, and the 

 feathers of the wings and tail begin to turn black. 



This species is still less of a wader than the one 

 last mentioned. It has no part of the leg bare of 

 feathers above the tarsal joint, and the membrane 

 which unites the middle toe and the external one at 

 their basis is very short. Still it frequents the marshy 

 grounds and margins of the waters, feeding upon 

 young fry and very small fishes in the shallows, and 

 also on the spawn and tadpoles of frogs, and on 

 worms. It is a marsh-breeder, making its nest in 

 bushes and tufts, and laying five or six white eggs. 



It is wholly confined to the eastern continent, but 

 there it has a considerable range, being met with as 

 far to the north as Siberia, and as far to the south as 

 Arabia. In the south and east of Europe it is very 

 common, and it is by no means rare in Holland. In 

 France it is not so abundant ; and in England, and, 

 as it is said, in Germany, it is only a bird of passage. 

 Considering its size, it is a bird of long and powerful 

 flight, and some of the specimens that have straggled 

 to this country have been met with in the Orkney 

 islands. Some describers mention, that, during the 

 breeding season, the male utters a cry resembling the 



