HERONS. 261 



ful flight. The hind toe is always present, but 

 its position and development vary in different 

 genera. 



The typical Herons have the above characters 

 in greatest perfection : they are the most beautiful 

 of all the Waders, not so much from the colours 

 of their plumage, which however are chaste and 

 agreeable, as from their taper and graceful forms, 

 the curves of their slender necks, and the elegant 

 hanging crests, and long decomposed plumes that 

 adorn various parts of their bodies. Their plumage 

 is copious, but somewhat lax, particularly on the 

 neck. They build in society, but live solitary. 

 Their common habit is to watch patiently, and 

 without motion, on the margin of the water, or 

 within the shallows ; on the appearance of prey, 

 it is transfixed by a sudden stroke of the pointed 

 beak with lightning-like rapidity, and swallowed 

 whole. 



The Ardeadce are to be found, in some of their 

 varied forms, in all parts of the globe ; the typical 

 genera are numerous in species, and widely dis- 

 tributed. Some of their characters are thus gra- 

 phically summed up by Willoughby : " These 

 have very long necks ; their bills also are long, 

 strong, ending in a sharp point, to strike fish, and 

 fetch them from under stones or brinks ; long legs, 

 to wade in rivers, and pools of water ; very long 

 toes, especially the hind toe, to stand more firmly 

 in rivers ; large crooked talons, and the middle 

 serrate on the inside, to hold eels and other slip- 

 pery fishes the faster,* or because they sit on 

 trees; lean and carrion bodies, because of their 

 great fear and watchfulness." 



* We believe the Herons never take or hold their prey with the foot. 



