42 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



over the globe. It bears a strong affinity to the crane and 

 the stork, but differs from them in one or two particulars : 

 it is smaller, the beak is longer, and the middle claw of 

 each foot is serrated, for the better seizing and securing of 

 the slippery prey upon which it principally feeds ; and it is 

 also noticeable for the handsome crest and plumes which 

 adorn its head and neck. The Heron commits great 

 devastation in ponds and shallow waters, where, as well as in 

 marshy places and the banks of lakes and rivers, it spends 

 most of its time. Fish and their fry, frogs, toads, snakes, 

 field-mice, shrews, snails, slugs, worms, and all sorts of 

 insects, are the usual articles of its diet ; but it has been 

 occasionally known to transfix a water-rat with its powerful 

 beak, and bear it away in triumph. One distinguishing 

 characteristic of the Heron is the expansive properties of 

 the gullet, which enables the bird to carry home to its 

 young a much larger supply of food than it could manage 

 in the beak alone. 



This interesting bird secures its prey by wading into 

 the water, and watching patiently and motionless for some 

 hapless fish. Still as a statue, with its long, graceful neck 

 sunk between its shoulders, and its keen eye fixed upon 

 the water, it rests until the proper moment arrives, when 

 it darts down like lightning on the unsuspecting wanderer ; 

 and rarely indeed is the blow unsuccessful. It is said 

 that a single Heron has been known to destroy up- 

 wards of fifty small roach and dace in one day, so that its 

 capabilities as a fisher may be considered thoroughly estab- 

 lished. 



The Heron is remarkably light in proportion to its 

 size, as it very rarely exceeds three- and-a-half pounds 

 in weight, although its length is over three feet, and its 



