104 THE HERON. 



between the plates, enable it to bear the water for a 

 great length of time without injury. Its toes are long, 

 with claws well adapted for clutching, and one toe is 

 toothed, so that eels, and other slippery prey, may not 

 wriggle out of its clutches. The muscular power of 

 the long neck is wonderful, and by it the point of the 

 bill can be jerked to the distance of three feet in an 

 instant. No bird indeed can, with its feet at rest, 

 " strike out " so far or so instantly as the heron ; and 

 the articulations of the neck are a sort of universal 

 joints, for it can, with the same ease, and in the same 

 brief space, jerk out the head in any direction or in 

 any position ; nay, the bill can act, and that powerfully, 

 when the neck is twisted backwards and the head under 

 the wing. The bill, too, is formidable ; the points pierce 

 like spears, and toward the extremity there are sharp 

 and strong barbs turned backwards ; so that when once 

 it strikes, it never quits that which it can lift, and it 

 makes a terribly lacerated wound in that which it can- 

 not. The bill is about six inches long, and the gape 

 still longer, as it extends backward as far as the eyes. 

 The gullet and craw are exceedingly elastic, so that it 

 can swallow large fish, and a number of them. Seven- 

 teen carp have been found at once in the maw of a 

 heron. The neck of the heron is indeed one of the 

 most singular pieces of animal mechanism, and proves 

 how nicely the maximum of activity and strength can 

 be combined in the smallest possible quantity of mate- 

 rials. The wings are also admirably fitted for enabling 

 it to float itself with its weighty prey, or to lean upon 

 on the air in its long and elevated flights. They are 

 concave on their under sides, and thus act like para- 



