12 



Order HERODIONES. 



Family 

 COMMON HERON. Ardea cinerea (Linnaeus). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, Birds of Great Britain,' vol. iv, pi. 

 20 ; Dresser, Birds of Europe,' vol. vi, pi. 395 ; Lilford, 

 ' Coloured Figures,' vol. vii, pi. 4 ; Booth, Eough Notes,' 

 vol. ii, pi. 15. 



In Great Britain and Ireland the Heron is the only 

 common representative of the Order to which it belongs. 

 Unlike the succeeding species of Herons, the Bitterns, 

 and the Storks, which are but wanderers to our Isles, 

 the Common Heron is resident, and, being very adaptable 

 to its surroundings, is widely distributed. It is, in fact, 

 a fairly ubiquitous species, occurring in considerable num- 

 bers on the remote treeless islands of the western maritime 

 counties as well as in sheltered and thickly-timbered dis- 

 tricts. Away from its breeding-haunts, the Heron is 

 wont to lead a solitary and secluded life, though in some 

 places, notably along the sea-coast, I have frequently seen 

 parties of a dozen or more together. In a day's walk the 

 Heron may be met with in varied localities ; along the side 

 of a mountain-rivulet, by the banks of the clear swift- 

 flowing trout stream, along the margin of the reed-fringed 

 lake or river, on snipe-marshes, in the drains of turf-bogs, 

 on esturine mud-slobs and sand-flats, and on the rocky 

 portions of the coast. Whatever be the locality, the 

 solitary and stately figure of the Heron is familiar to 

 ornithologist, gunner, angler, artist and country-folk. 1 



The majority of people in Ireland call this bird the " Crane." 



