212 



6 



places too deep for them to fish from the shore. I shot a single specimen in St. Michael's, at 

 the Sete Cidades, and saw the remains of an immature bird that had been killed some time 

 previously, which leads me to believe that the species occasionally breeds here, though I could 

 obtain no information as to the fact." 



To return, however, to the mainland of Africa, I find it recorded by Mr. Layard (B. of S. 

 Afr. p. 306) as " very abundant throughout South Africa in all suitable localities, feeding upon 

 fish and frogs and an occasional snake. I am told," he says, " they breed on the Cape flats, 

 placing their nests in company on tufts of grass and rushes surrounded with water." Mr. Ayres 

 met with it in Natal ; and it has been recorded from Mozambique, Zanzibar, the Comoro Islands, 

 Madagascar, and Mauritius. 



To the eastward the common Heron is met with as far as Japan. Mr. Blanford informs me 

 that he found it not uncommon in Persia in suitable localities; and in India, according to 

 Dr. Jerdon (B. of India, ii. p. 752), it is " of general occurrence throughout the country, fre- 

 quenting rivers and the larger tanks. It breeds on high trees, several together, but not 

 apparently in such numerous societies as it sometimes does in Europe; it feeds chiefly on 

 fish. It is in India, as in Europe, a favourite quarry for the Bhyri." 



Severtzoff states (Turk. Jevot. p. 69) that it breeds throughout Turkestan to an altitude of 

 about 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea-level; and it has been recorded from Siberia by Radde 

 and Von Schrenck. The former says that he only once saw it at Lake Baikal, but that it was 

 common on the elevated plateaux of Dauria, and he found them breeding on the ground on the 

 Aral Islands, which are treeless. Von Schrenck writes that it is generally distributed throughout 

 the country skirting the Amoor, but is most numerous in the densely wooded districts on the 

 Southern Amoor. Pere David speaks of it as being common in North China, where it breeds ; 

 Mr. Swinhoe states that it occurs throughout China, Hainan, and Formosa ; and Temminck and 

 Schlegel record it from Japan. 



To the southward it is said to occur as far as Australia ; for the Australian species is said 

 not to differ specifically from our bird. Mr. Holdsworth speaks of it as being by no means 

 uncommon in Ceylon. According to Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub it has been obtained in Java ; 

 and Mr. Gould states (Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 295) that he saw it on a journey into the interior 

 of South Australia in 1839, and received a skin direct from New South Wales. 



More shy and wary than almost any of our native birds, the Heron is not easy to watch 

 within any thing like a reasonable distance. Having learnt to look on man with distrust, the 

 result probably of bitter experience, it is most careful not to allow him to approach, and usually 

 seeks safety in flight long before the intruder is within gunshot range. So soon as it catches 

 sight of any one approaching it stands erect, watching intently until the object of its suspicion 

 shall have approached too near, when it at once rises on the wing and flies heavily away. When 

 undisturbed and on the look-out for its finny prey, it stands motionless, its body held very erect, 

 almost perpendicular, and its neck doubled up, the bill pointing downwards, and only its small 

 restless eye is in motion, watching carefully for the approach of some incautious fish, at which its 

 bill is darted with lightning speed, and seldom misses its mark. When standing thus the 

 Heron is any thing but a graceful bird ; for the body is held low and seems heavy, and altogether, 

 the neck being drawn in, it has a clumsy appearance ; but directly it sees any thing which appears 



