The Common Heron. t 



January. In Scotland, April is the chief season of laying, while in some parts of 

 Europe the birds delay till May or June. Incubation lasts from twenty-five to 

 twenty-eight days. The young nestlings, rarely more than two in number, though 

 bom with their eyes open, are helpless little creatures, covered with soft greyish 

 down, longer on the back and head, with the underparts white, and are fed by 

 the parents till they are able to leave the nest, when they begin life on their own 

 account, clambering among the branches of their home, and, like the Parrot and 

 the Hoatzin fledgling, using their bill to aid their feet. The Heron tends its 

 young with assiduous care, often going long distances to fetch food for the hungry 

 and clamorous creatures, who never seem to have enough, and whose needs are 

 such a tax upon the neighbouring preserves, that the keepers are the sworn 

 enemies of the parent birds. Human foes are, however, not the only enemies 

 that check their increase, for instances are known of heronries which had been 

 frequented for a score of years being deserted, owing to the persistent robbery of 

 the eggs by Jackdaws or Hoody-Crows. The young birds begin to moult in 

 November, and when they have acquired their first plumage, early in the spring,, 

 the crown and upper surface is dusky ash, very dark on the nape, with broad 

 blackish stripes on the sides and breast, but the elongated feathers on the head, 

 neck, and back have not yet appeared. It is only when the birds are nearly two- 

 years old, and have gone through their second moult, that the grey back, the 

 richly marked throat, and the fine plumes are assumed. 



" The heronry is a most interesting place to visit," observes Mr. W. H. 

 Hudson, '.'when the young birds are nearly old enough to fly, and are most 

 hungry and vociferous, and stand erect on the nests or neighbouring branches, 

 looking very strange and tall and conspicuous on the tree tops. * * *, At 

 this period the parent birds are extremely active, and if the colony be a large 

 one, they are seen arriving singly, or in twos and threes, at intervals of a few 

 minutes throughout the day. Each time a great blue bird with well filled gullet 

 is seen sweeping downwards, the young birds in all the nests are thrown into a. 

 great state of excitement, and greet the food bearer with a storm of extraordinary 

 sounds. The cries are powerful and harsh, but vary greatly, and resemble grunts 

 and squeals and prolonged screams, mingled with strange quacking or barking 

 notes. When the parent bird has settled on its own nest, and fed its young, the 

 sounds die away ; but when several birds arrive in quick succession, the vocal 

 tempest rages continuously among the trees, for every young bird appears to 

 regard any old bird, on arrival, as its own parent bringing food to satisfy its 

 raging hunger." 



In the male in adult plumage the crown of the head has a pure white crest. 



