EIRD3. 325 



anrl more rpsembling a man's nails than the chivvs of a bird. The 

 heron may be distinguished from both, as well by its size, which 

 is much less, as by its bill, which in proportion is much longer ; 

 but particularly by the middle claw on each foot, which is toothed 



Their food consists principally, like that of most of the birds of the wading 

 order, of fresh, water fishes, but more particularly of the young fry of carp 

 and trout. In pursuit of these they wade gently into the water, where the 

 !ish aboiin.i, and stand in it up to their knees, (or rather to their knee, for 

 they rest only on one foot,) with tlieir heads drawn in by the folding of their 

 long- necks upon the breast, quietly watching the approach of their prey. It 

 li;is been remarked, not merely by the vulgar, but by observers deserving 

 of implicit confidejice, that the fish generally swarm around tliem in sufficient 

 number to afford them a plentiful supply j and this has been commonly ac- 

 counted for on the supposition that their legs communicate a peculiar odour 

 to the water wliich entices the fish to their destruction. But M. Bechstein, 

 who vouches for the fact as one which he had seen innumerable times, sus- 

 pects that the source of attraction is in the excrements of the bird, which it 

 lets fall into the water, and which the fish, as is proved by experiment, de. 

 your w-ith the utmost avidity. The time of fishing is usually before sunrise 

 or after sunset. They generally swallow their i)rey entire, and many 

 stories are current of eels escaping alive througli their intestines, and being 

 a secotid time devoured by the voracious birds. Besides fishes, frogs form 

 a considerable portion of their food, and in winter they are frequently com- 

 pelled to content themselves with snails and worms, or, according to M. de 

 Saleme, even with the duck-weed that floats upon the stagnant waters. 

 At such times they occasionally become so emaciated as to appear to co)isist 

 of little else than feathers and bones. 



Herons are taken in various ways. Sometimes they are shot while fishing, 

 or sweeping leisurely along the banks ; but they are so shy that the sports, 

 man can rarely get within gunshot of them. Occasionally a living fish is 

 attached to a hook at the end of a line, and left to swim in the waters which 

 they are known to frequent; and tliey are thus caught ;is it were by angling. 

 When falconry was in fashion, hawking at the hermi wiis regarded as the 

 most noble of its branches ; the powerful wings of the heron, unequalled by 

 any bird of its size, enabling it to mount in the air to an almost incredible 

 height, and thus to put the powers of the falcon to their proof For this pur. 

 pose it wiis customary to establish the herons in aproper situation, to which 

 tliey were attached by precautions taken for providing them witli necessii- 

 ries. These heronries, as tliey were called, have now become extremely 

 r;ire ; but one ot them may stiJl be seen in the parish of Craigie, near Kil. 

 marnock, in Ayrshire. 



The licron, when taken young, readily becomes habituated to captivity ; 

 6ut the old birds generally refuse all sustenance, and perish of inanition. In 

 former days, when it w;ls necessary to procure such for the tr.iining of the 

 hawks, it was nsmil, according to Sir J. Sebright, " to cram them with food, 

 and to tie a piece of mat round their necks to prevent them from throwing 

 it lip again." Sonu'times, however, the old birds have been kno^^n to be. 

 come tame and even domesticated ; ami the siunu distinguished authority 

 to whom we have just referred, mentions on instance that occurred within 

 III. Si E 



