78 HEEON. 



when they have a young family to provide for, are obliged 

 to forage throughout the days. Standing motionless in the 

 shallow edge of the river or lake, the head, as before remarked, 

 drawn back in the attitude of expectation, you may see them 

 watching, with the patience for which all other anglers 

 ought to be equally proverbial, for a 'bite.' True waders, 

 their food is mostly picked up in the water, but none is 

 refused that occurs elsewhere. If dropped from the bill, it 

 will be picked up again more than once at the place of 

 capture. It is very rarely indeed that the Heron misses its 

 mark. It strikes with the most unerring precision, and 

 transfixes the quarry with the strong blow that it gives. 



Their note is a harsh, wild cry, uttered on the wing, and 

 frequently repeated, 'the word 'craigh' uttered in a lengthened 

 manner, with cracked and high-pitched voices,' as the bird 

 heavily wends its way to any accustomed haunt by the bank 

 of some river, reedy lake, or rushy pond, the margin of 

 some muddy estuary, or creek, or the edge of some stagnant 

 swamp or quaggy morass. It is also heard while on 

 migration. 



The Heron builds, according to circumstances, either on 

 the ground, in which situation Montagu saw several, or on 

 trees of any sort; also, it is said, on cliffs, preferring situations 

 in the vicinity of water. Many nests are often placed on it 

 together as many as eighty have been counted in one tree. 

 Preparations for nidification are made about the month of 

 April. The nest is placed on the very summit of the tree, 

 or as close to it as the case will admit of, and also near 

 the extremity of the branch, the size of the bird not admitting 

 of a ready passage inwards. The nest, flat in shape, is rather 

 small for the size of the tenants that have to inhabit it, but 

 in some cases is much larger than in others, probably from 

 an old one being built on. It is made of stick and twigs, 

 and has a lining of wool or hair, rushes, dry grasses, water- 

 nags, straws, or any soft materials. 



Two broods are reared in the season, and both parents 

 assist in the work of providing the young with food, and 

 the male also feeds the female while sitting. If alarmed for 

 their young, they soar about aloft over the nests. 



The eggs are generally three in number, sometimes, it is 

 said, four or five, and of a green colour. They vary in shape, 

 some being pointed at both ends, and others only at the 

 lower end. They are hatched in about three weeks, and it 



