482 CLASS AVES. 



ridge rounded, and frequently an emargination towards the 

 end ; the nostrils lateral, placed nearly at the base of the 

 bill in the groove, and partly closed by a membrane ; the 

 tongue flat and pointed ; the eyes surrounded with a naked 

 skin extending to the bill ; the legs shielded, and devoid of 

 feathers for a greater or less space above the knee ; the inter- 

 mediate of the three anterior toes united to the external by a 

 short membrane. The interior free, and the thumb articu- 

 lated near it beside the heel, resting on the ground by its 

 entire length. The claws long and sharp, and the middle 

 one dilated and pectinated on the internal edge, so as to fur- 

 nish to the bird a support and the means of fastening on the 

 small roots, &c. as it traverses marshy and muddy places. 

 The wings moderate, and the first remex a little shorter than 

 the second and third, which are the longest. 



The herons have but a very small coecum ; their sto- 

 mach is a large sac, of no great muscularity ; they inhabit 

 on the borders of lakes and rivers, or in marshes, and feed on 

 fish and their spawn, on reptiles, aquatic insects, fresh water 

 shell-mollusca, and the various animals which creep through 

 the mud, and the sand which covers it. It is also said that 

 they will eat shrews and field-mice. They are melancholy 

 birds, remaining almost immoveable for hours on the edge of 

 the waters. With their body erect, the neck folded on the 

 breast, the head leaning on the back and almost concealed 

 between the shoulders, they dart their bill like an arrow on 

 the fish as it glides along, or occasionall}^ grope in the mud 

 with their feet, to make the frogs, &c. come forth. This sort 

 of life hardly permits them to live in flocks ; and if they do 

 unite for the purpose of nestling in the same places, it is 

 natural to suppose that during the day they must generally 

 remain isolated. Though they are to be met with in 

 different places, and at considerable distances, they must 

 rather be considered erratic birds than birds of passage. 



