AUnKID.E — THP: IIKKoXS - AUDEA. 



19 



observi'd 

 shell-tisli. 

 I ready to 

 at is jKi^s- 

 ;utict'd liy 



■ays staml- 

 if its ])i('y, 

 ast, wliicli 

 lif^lit. \<y 

 ill' tisliiii;^', 

 cad s]M'ii- 

 t product'd 



Valloy of 

 it an al)uii- 

 iiiubors (in 

 m thiTc to 

 y, but Well 

 s (Ohloiiij, 

 among the 

 (Jroat Salt 



Host ccdar- 

 iiucs many 

 are imalile 

 ison. Tlip 

 sometimes 

 r gvuntini,' 



lany otlicr 

 , going in 

 life. 1 "li- 

 ng of the 



the habits 



ing a nest, 



riiey were 



,s carrying 



a part of 



'male, and 



illow-tojjs, 



;her than 



e, each in 



e acting as 



ale seems 



n him and 



ations him 



The sticks 



Neither 



the eggs nor the young, until the latter arc able to use their bills well for defence, 

 are ever left by l)oth birds at once. Copulation takes })laco in the nest. 



Hoth parents ineuliate, and both l)ring food to the young. After these are able to 

 strike with their l)ills. the old liirds spend little time with them, or even in sight. 

 The eagerness and the (hish of tiie bill of a hungry nestling, as well as its powerful 

 , gripe, are interesting peculiarities. The struggle Ix-tween the young Heron and the 

 parent seems like a wrestling-match, the fornu'r standing up almost as high as the 

 latter, tlu? tree swaying to and fro, and both birds staggering ui»on the nest, to such 

 an extent that tiu- nu)ther is (x^casionally compelled to step off and stand on one of 

 the branches, to avoid falling. This struggle occurs when all the food has been given, 

 and the mother is seeking to extricate her bill from that of her young. On one occa- 

 sion Mr. Moore saw one of the jjarcnts, after having fed its young, jiick up a good- 

 sized eel from the nest, deliberately swallow it, and then fiy away. 



This s[)ecies is never known to run, or even to walk briskly ; and it never rakes 

 the bottom for its food. It is sonu'tinu's seen in the water watching for its prey at 

 two o'clock in tlu; morning. It often feeds on sirens, eating the posterior ])ortion only 

 of the larger ones. In vi'ry c(dd winters many more are seen in Florida than in milder 

 seasons. After swallowing a good-sized tish, it drinks by dipping its bill into the 

 water from one to live timi's. The larger the tish, the more water it drinks. Mr. 

 Moore has seen one take a large lish that lay Hirting its tail, ami Hy two hundred 

 yards before laving it on the sand. On being ajjproached tlu^ l»ird again carried it 

 off as before. In catching tish tins Heron usually .strikes its prey through the body. 

 Now and then it is said to strike at a fish so large and strong as to endanger its own 

 life. Audubon was a witness to an incident of this kind, where a Heron, on the 

 Florida coast, after striking a fish, was dragged several yards, and was able to dis- 

 engage itself oidy after a severe struggle. This species is said to take three years 

 in attaining maturity; and even after tiuit period it gains in size and weight. AVhen 

 fii'st hat(du'd it has a very grotesqxie ai)pearance : the legs, neck, and bill seem dis- 

 proportionately long, and it is nearly bare. It is soon covered with a silky down of 

 dark gray color. 



In Florida the nundjer of its eggs is nearly uniforndy three ; but farther north the 

 number increases to four or live, and in a few instam^es to six. The egg resembles, 

 in its rounded oval shape and in its color, the eggs of most of the Heron family. 

 This color is uniform and uusjjotted, and is a faint wash of a greenish Prussian blue. 

 Tlie eggs vary sonu'what in size, and sonu' are nu)re oblong in shape than others ; 

 eggs from Florida are noticeably smaller than those from .Massachusetts. Three 

 in my (tabinet exhibit the following measurements : No. GO, from (fraud ilenan, 

 2.50 X 1.80 inches; Xo. 01, from Naushon, Mass., 2.'>0 X 1.70; and No. !>77, from Cape 

 Charles, Va., 2.07 X 1.80 inches. 



Ardea cinerea. 



THE COMMON HEBON OF EUROPE. 



Arden cinerea, Linx. Faun. Suen. 1746, 59 ; S. N. I. 1766, 236. — Fabh. Faun. Oroenl. 1780, 106 

 (Grocnland). — Omku S. N. I. ii. 1788, 627. — Xacm. Viig. Deutsihl. IX. 1838, 24, pi. 220. — 

 OoL'Ln, n. Vmv. 1837, \>\. 273. — Hdnai-. f'onsi). II. IS.IS, 111. — Kkvs. & Ri.as. Wiib. Eur. 

 1840, 79. — Ma('(!II,i.. Man. Hiit. Oni. II. 1842, 128. — Giiay, Cat. Brit. B. 1863, 145.— 

 Ueixh. Ibis, 1861, 9 (Xcnortalik, niwnland). — Hrwiw. N'oin. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 488.— 

 Coi'ES, CliPi'k List, 2(1 cd. 1SS2, no. 657. 



Anha miijor, I.inx. S. N. 1. 1766, 236. 



