HERONS. 125 



Scarcely less liandsome is the Purple Heron, which builds 

 his nest among the reeds and rushes of the swamp : and 

 even the common or Gray Heron presents many characters 

 of interest. His food consists principally of fishes, which 

 he captures by standing patiently in the water until they 

 come within his reach, when immediately he extends his 

 long neck, and secures and swallows a luckless victim. 



The Great Bittern, easily recognized by his peculiar 

 booming voice, is a bird of considerable size, measuring 

 about thirty inches in length. Though the back of the 

 neck is almost naked, the feathers on the sides and under- 

 neath are very full and capable of being erected, so as to 

 give the neck an appearance of great thickness. 



The plumage of this " bird of desolation " is of a pale 

 yellow, varied by brown and gray zigzag patches and 

 scattered tints. He is a bold and even ferocious bird, 

 striking with keen bill at his antagonist's eyes. When 

 attacked by dogs or other carnivorous animals, he throws 

 himself upon the ground and fights desperately, with claws 

 and bill, to the very last. 



The Curlew reminds us in many particulars of the ibis 

 of Egypt. His cry is wild, loud, and melancholy, and on 

 the eve of a great storm, when sounding across the foamy 

 estuary or tumultuous sea, it comes upon the mariner's ear 

 with a painful efiect. The curlew is a sociable bird, and, 

 congTegating in numerous flocks, dwells on the shores of 

 sea and lake, or on the borders of marsh and swamp, feed- 

 ing upon worms and molluscs. When the breeding-season 



