THE



Bvtcultural ®a§a3me t


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. II. — NO. 13.



NOVEMBER, 1895.



THE BITTERN AND THE HERONS.


By J. Lewis Bonhote.


I have found few birds so interesting in captivity as the

family of Herons f Ardeidce ). There are few birds more grace¬

ful, or that will become so familiar with their master. Of course

they are not cage-birds in the ordinary sense of the word ; but

anyone with a small piece of ground at the back of his house

can easily keep them, and will, undoubtedly, find a fund of

amusement in watching them and their habits.


The size of my aviary is 15 feet by 8 feet by 6 feet high,

having a pond 3 feet bj^ 2 feet, 1 foot deep at one end. It is

provided with two good broad perches.


In this aviary I have kept for some eighteen months, one

Bittern (Botaurus stellarisj , one Night Heron f Nycticorax griseusj

and three Purple Herons (Atdea purpurea). I should, however,

not advise anyone to keep more than one species in an aviary, as

they are very much given to fighting. My birds have their

respective portions of the aviary, and any intrusion beyond

these imaginary limits is at once strongly resented. The Purple

Herons own one end, the Bittern the other, and the Night Heron

one perch. The food of these birds in confinement is fish ; it is

best procured by arranging with the fishmonger for him to let

you have the cuttings and cleanings of the fish, for which he

will probably make you no charge.


The Bittern was formerly well known in the fens of the

Eastern Counties ; but it has now become very scarce, partly

owing to increased drainage and cultivation, and partly owing

to the persistency with which the birds visiting us in winter are

shot. There can, I think, be little doubt that, were these winter

immigrants unmolested, a few pairs would remain to breed on

our islands every year.


'*** The copyright of every article in the Avicultural Magazine is the property of the

Author, and no article may be reprinted or reproduced, in whole or in part, without

the Author’s previous consent.



