182 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



distinguished from both, as well by its size, 

 which is much less, as by its bill, which in 

 proportion is much longer ; but particularly 

 by the middle claw on each foot, which is 

 toothed like a saw, for the better seizing and 

 holding its slippery prey. Should other 

 marks fail, however, there is anatomical dis- 

 tinction, in which herons differ from all other 

 birds ; which is, that they have but one 

 ccecum, and all other birds have two. 



Of this tribe, Brisson has enumerated not 

 less than forty-seven sorts, all differing in 

 their size, figure, and plumage; and with ta- 

 lents adapted to their place of residence, or 



the approach of their prey. It has been remarked, not 

 merely by the vulgar, but by observers deserving of im- 

 plicit confidence, that the fish generally swarm around 

 them in sufficient numbers to afibrd them a plentiful sup- 

 ply; and this has been commonly accounted for on the 

 supposition that their legs communicate a peculiar odour 

 to the water, which entices the fish to their destruction. 

 But M. Bechtein, who vouches for the fact as one which 

 he had seen innumerable times, suspects that the source 

 of attraction is in the excrements of the bird, which it 

 lets fall into the water, and which the fish, as is proved 

 by experiment, devour with the utmost avidity. The 

 time of fishing is usually before sunrise or after sunset. 

 They generally swallow their prey entire, and many 

 stories are current of eels escaping alive through their 

 intestines, and being a second time devoured by the 

 voracious birds. Besides fishes, frogs form a consider- 

 able portion of their food, and in winter they are fre- 

 quently compelled to content themselves with snails 

 and worms, or, according to M. de Salerne, even with 

 the duck-weed that floats upon the stagnant waters. 

 At such times they occasionally become so emaciated 

 as to appear to consist of little else than feathers and 

 bones. 



Herons are taken in various ways. Sometimes they 

 are shot while fishing, or sweeping leisurely along the 

 banks ; but they are so shy that the sportsman can rare- 

 ly g e t within gunshot of them. Occasionally a living 

 fish is attached to a hook at the end of a line, and left 

 to swim in the waters which they are known to fre- 

 quent; and they are thus caught as it were by angling. 

 Wheu falconry was in fashion, hawking at the heron 

 was regarded as the most noble of its branches; the 

 powerful wings of the heron, unequalled by any bird of 

 its size, enabling it to mount in the air to an almost in- 

 credible height, and thus to put the powers of the falcon 

 to their proof. For this purpose it was customary to es- 

 tablish the herons in a proper situation, to which they 

 were attached by precautions taken for providing them 

 with necessaries. These heronries, as they were called, 

 have now become extremely rare ; but one of them may 

 still be seen at Didlington in Norfolk, the seat of Colo- 

 nel Wilson. 



The heron, when taken young, readily becomes habi- 

 tuated to captivity ; but the old birds generally refuse 

 all sustenance, and perish of inanition. In former days, 

 when it was necessary to procure such for the training 

 of the hawks, it was usual, according to Sir J. Sebright, 

 "to cram them with food, and to tie a piece of mat 

 round their necks to prevent them from throwing it up 

 again." Sometimes, however, the old birds have been 

 known to become tame and even domesticated ; and the 

 same distinguished authority to whom we have just re- 

 ferred, mentions an instance that occurred within his 

 own knowledge, in which, after recourse had been had 

 to the operation of cramming and tying down the food, 

 the bird " became so tame as to follow its master on the 



their peculiar pursuits. But, how various so- 

 ever the heron kind may be in their colours 

 or their bills, they all sctm possessed of the 

 same manners, and have but one character of 

 cowardice, rapacity, and indolence, yet insa- 

 tiable hunger. Other birds are found to grow 

 fat by an abundant supply of food ; but these, 

 though excessively destructive and voracious, 

 are ever found to have lean and carrion bodies, 

 as if not even plenty were sufficient for their 

 support. 



The common heron is remarkably light, in 

 proportion to its bulk, scarcely weighing three 

 pounds and a half, yet it expands a breadth 



wing to the distance of some miles, to come into the 

 house when called, and to take food from the hand." 



The Night Heron, so called from the hoarse croaking 

 which it utters during the night, is about twenty inches 

 in length. The bill is three inches and three quarters 

 long, slightly arched, strong, and black, inclining to yel- 

 low at the base ; the skin from the beak round the eyes 

 is bare, and of a greenish colour; irides yellow. A 

 white line is extended from the beak over each eye ; a 

 black patch, glossed with green, covers the crown of the 

 head and nape of the neck, from which three long nar- 

 row white feathers, tipped with brown, hang loose and 

 waving ; the hinder part of the neck, coverts of the 

 wings, the sides and tail, are ash-coloured ; throat white ; 

 fore part of the neck, breast, and belly, yellowish white 

 or hurT; the back black ; the legs a greenish yellow. 

 The female is nearly of the same size as the male ; but 

 she difiers considerably in her plumage, which is less 

 bright and distinct, being more blended with clay or 

 dirty white, brown, gray, and rusty ash-colour ; and she 

 has not the delicate plumes that flow from the head of 

 the male. The night-heron frequents the sea-shores, 

 rivers, and inland marshes ; and lives upon insects-, 

 slugs, frogs, reptiles, and fish. It remains concealed 

 during the day, and does not roam abroad until the ap- 

 proach of night, when it is heard and known by its harsh, 

 rough, and disagreeable cry, which is by some compared 

 to the noise made by a person straining to vomit. Some 

 ornithologists affirm, that the female builds her nest in 

 trees ; others, that she builds it on rocky cliffs ; probably 

 both accounts are right. She lays three .or four white 

 p. 



Crested Purple Heron. It inhabits Asia, and is two 

 feet ten inches in length. The bill is brown, tipt with 

 dusky brown, and is yellowish beneath ; the crest is of a 

 black colour ; the orbits naked and yellowish ; from the 

 angle of the mouth to the hind head it has a black streak ; 

 the chin is white; upper half of the neck rufous, with 

 three longitudinal black lines; the rest olive behind, 

 and rufous at the sides, and reddish on the fore-part ; 

 the feathers are long, narrow, each marked with a black 

 spot ; a black band passes from the middle of the breast 

 to the vent; the lower tail coverts are white, mixed 

 with rufous and tipt with black; angles of the wings 

 rufous; the quill feathers dusky; and the legs greenish; 

 hind-head black ; the crest pendant, consisting of two 

 long feathers ; the body is of an olive colour, and be- 

 neath it is purplish. 



The smaller herons with shorter feet have been railed 

 Crab-eaters. The Egrets are herons, whose plumes on 

 the lower part of the back are, at a certain period, long 

 and attenuated. These plumes were formerly used to 

 decorate the helmets of warriors ; they are now applied 

 to a gentler and better purpose, in ornamenting the 

 head-dresses of the European ladies, and the turbans of 

 the Persians and Turks. Supplement to the English 

 edition of Cuvier. 



