Chapter IX. 



HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS. 



Most of the birds hitherto described in these papers 

 have been well known either in connexion with sport, or 

 because of their intimate association with man in his fields 

 or near his dwelling. At present the class now under con- 

 sideration can offer no such claims. The days have long 

 since gone by when herons were strictly preserved in Eng- 

 land for hawking, and a fine of a pound sterling was inflicted 

 for killing one otherwise. There are still, however, some 300 

 heronries in the British Isles, and at least one, in Kent, which 

 is 600 years old. Ardea Cinerea, as the common heron is 

 technically known, is a well known bird to country folk in 

 England. There is a good specimen in the Shanghai Mu- 

 seum. At his best he stands about 3ft. high, whilst, fully 

 spread, his wings have a stretch of 6ft. But he is, after all, 

 little but legs and arms, and weighs not more than about 4 

 lb. He has. been known, however, to dispose of 50 fish in a 

 day, some of them more than nine inches long. Some of his 

 persecutors know of his power of storage in this particular, 

 and when he is lazily flapping his great wings homeward 

 they sometimes give chase and annoy him till he disgorges 

 one fish after another upon which they in turn feed. Stand- 

 ing in the open, as the heron may frequently be seen in China, 

 he looks like a sentinel on guard. Not a motion of head, 

 body, or feathers can one see, if he is intent on fishing. But 

 all of a sudden, perhaps, the bent-back head is shot forward 

 and downward, the curved neck straightens and lengthens 

 apparently, and the next thing seen is the head withdrawn with 

 a fish between mandibles. If an eel, it is sometimes thrown 

 out on dry land where a thrust or two of the terrible beak 

 effectually stops its wriggling. There is nothing showy 

 about the heron. Like so many waders he has a good deal 

 of white on the under parts, but there is a very neat black 

 and white tie fitting his long shapely neck, blacktopped head 

 lightened with a white feather or two, black primaries in his 

 wings, and for the rest, a very unassuming assortment of 

 greys and slaty blue. 



