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Crragurii ol Batumi ^ 



the toil of an hour or two is sufficient to fill 

 his capacious stomach; and, though he often 

 feeds by night, he generally is able to retire 

 long before to his lodging in some wood, 

 which he quits early next morning. But 

 in cold and stormy seasons, when his prey 

 is no longer within his reach the fish 

 then abiding in the deep as their warmest 

 situation, and frogs, lizards, and other 

 reptiles, also seldom venturing from their 

 retreats during the continuance of such 

 weather the Heron is obliged to practise 

 abstinence, and to feed on such weeds as the 

 margin of the lake affords : hence he feels 

 the ills both of hunger and repletion, and 

 notwithstanding the amazing quantity he 

 devours, he is always lean and emaciated. 

 While on this subject, it may, however, be 

 well to attend to what Mr. Waterton has 

 written : " I attribute the bad character 

 (says he) which the Heron has with us, for 

 destroying fish, more to erroneous ideas, 

 than to any well-authenticated proofs that 

 it commits extensive depredations on our 

 store-ponds. Under this impression, which 

 certainly hitherto has not been to my dis- 

 advantage, I encourage this poor persecuted 

 wader to come and take shelter here ; and 

 I am glad to see it build its nest in the trees 

 which overhang the water, though carp, and 

 tench, and many other sorts of fish are there 

 in abundance. Close attention to its habits 

 has convinced me that I have iiot done 

 wrongly. Let us bear in mind that the He- 

 ron can neither swim nor dive ; wherefore 

 the range of its depredations on the finny 

 tribe must necessarily be very circumscribed. 

 In the shallow water only can it surprise the 

 fish ; and, even there, when we see it standing 

 motionless, and suppose it to be intent on 

 striking some delicious perch or passing 

 tench, it is just as likely that it has waded 

 into the pond to have a better opportunity 

 of transfixing a water-rat lurking at the 

 mouth of its hole, or of gobbling down some 

 unfortunate frog which had taken refuge on 

 the rush-grown margin of the pool. The 

 water-rat may appear a large morsel to be 

 swallowed whole ; but BO great are the ex- 

 pansive powers of the Heron's throat, that 

 it can gulp down one of these animals with- 

 out much apparent difficulty. As the ordi- 

 nary food of this bird consists of reptiles, 

 quadrupeds, and fish, and as the Herons can 

 only catch the fish when they come into 

 shallow water, I think we may fairly con- 

 sider this wader not very injurious to our 

 property ; especially when we reflect for a 

 moment on the prodigious fecundity of fish." 

 In its aerial journies the Heron soars to 

 a great height, and its harsh cry while on 

 the wing frequently attracts the ear. In 

 flying, it draws the head between the shoul- 

 ders, and the legs, stretched out, seem, like 

 the longer tails of some birds, to serve as a 

 rudder. The motion of their wings is heavy 

 and flagging, and yet they proceed at a very 

 considerable rate. In England, Heron- 

 hawking was formerly a favourite diversion 

 among the nobility and gentry of the king- 

 dom, at whose tables this bird was a favour- 

 ite dish, not less esteemed than pheasants 

 and peacocks. It was ranked among the 



royal game, and protected as such by the | 

 laws ; and a penalty of twenty shillings was j 

 incurred by any person who took or destroyed j 

 its eggs Dr. Latham says, l> In England, 

 and the milder climates, this species of Heron ! 

 is stationary ; migratory in the colder, ac- ! 

 cording to the season ; and is rarely seen far 

 north : inhabits Africa and Asia in general, 

 the Cape of Good Hope, Calcutta, and other 

 parts of India ; and is found in America 

 from Carolina to New York." 



The AOAMI HEROX. (Ardea Agami.) By 

 general consent, as it were, tliis bird is al- 

 lowed to be the most beautiful of the genus. 

 It is a native of Surinam, and is rather 

 more than two feet and a half in length : 

 its beak is about six inches long, and dusky, 

 with the base of the under mandible pale ; 

 the crown, the crest, and the hind part of 

 the neck are bluish gray ; the upper parts 

 of the body, the wings, and the tail, are a 

 fine glossy green ; the quills are black ; the 

 sides of the neck bright rufous, with an ele- 

 gant 

 black 



it white and rufous line, bounded by 

 :entral part : the breast is 

 clothed with long, loose, dark feathers ; those 



on the back of the neck black, with a white 

 streak down the middle of each shaft : the 

 under parts of the body are deep rufous ; 

 and the tail is brown. 



The GREAT HKRON. {Ardea Hcrodias.*) 

 This species inhabits North America, and is 

 one of the largest of the genus, measuring 

 upwards of five feet in length : the beak is 

 eight inches long, and of a brown colour, 

 inclining to yellow on the sides : on the 

 back of the head is a long-feathered crest : 



the space between the beak and eye is naked, 

 and of a pale yellow : all the upper parts of 

 the body, with the belly, tail, and legs, are 

 brown ; the quills black ; the neck, breast, 

 and thighs rufous. Like the rest of this 



