628 MR. W. H. HUDSON ON THE HABITS OF HERONS. [Nov. 16, 
pangs of famine inactive, it contracts a meagre consumptive habit of 
body, which subsequent plenty cannot remove. A pretty theory ; but 
it will not hold water; for in this region spells of bad weather are 
brief and infrequent ; moreover all other species that feed at the 
same table with the Heron, from the little flitting Ceryle to the 
towering Flamingo, become excessively fat at certain seasons, and are 
at all times so healthy and vigorous that, compared with them, the 
Heron is but the ghost of a bird. In no extraneous circumstances, 
but in the organization of the bird itself must be sought the cause of its 
anomalous condition: it does not appear to possess the fat-elabora- 
ting power ; consequently no provision is made for a rainy day, and 
the misery of the bird consists in its perpetual, never-satisfied, craving 
for food. 
Some writers have expatiated on the extreme insensibility and 
apathy of the Heron, even charging it with neglect of self-preserva- 
tion. This is not true; Herons have as keen a sense of danger as 
other birds, and their insensibility is only apparent. 
We have seen how the Spoonbill, Ibis, and other species, when 
out of the water, continue to observe motions and assume attitudes 
practised when feeding; yet these birds require to be active, have a 
variety of movements and satisfy their hunger in less time than the 
Heron. The Heron has but one attitude, motionless watchfulness ; 
so that when not actually on the wing or taking the few desultory 
steps it occasionally ventures on, and in whatever situation it may be 
placed, the level ground, the summit of a tree, or in confinement, 
it is seen drawn up, motionless and apparently apathetic. 
But when we remember that this is the bird’s attitude during many 
hours of the night and day, when it stands still as a reed in the water— 
that in such a posture it sees every shy and swift creature that glances 
by it, and darts its weapon with unerring aim and lightning rapidity, 
and with such force that I have seen one drive its beak quite through 
the body of a fish very much too large for the bird to swallow and 
cased in bony armour, it is impossible not to think that it is obser- 
vant and keenly sensible of every thing going on about it. 
I have made myself partially acquainted with the habits of eight 
of our Herons; but there is such a sameness in the way of life of these 
birds that most of what I could say about them would read like a 
mere repetition of what has been recorded concerning other species. 
The Cocoi (Ardea cocoi) and the Common Heron of Europe, 
widely separated as are the continents they inhabit, are identical in 
habits. 
The Argentine Nycticorax has one curious habit, but, apart from 
this, is like the Night-Herons found elsewhere. It lives in colonies 
of often more than fifty individuals, and perches aloft by day where 
trees abound; but the bird is also common in the marshes on the 
treeless pampas. Here the Night-Heron constructs platforms to 
perch on by breaking and bending the reeds across each other; this 
false nest is about a foot in diameter and ten or fifteen inches above 
the water. 
A pair of Cocois frequenting a stream close to a house I once lived 
