BRITISH BIRDS, 



With their Nests and Eggs. 



ORDER HERODIONES. 



UNDER this Order are included the Herons, and Bitterns {Ardeidd) ; the 

 Storks {Cico7iiid(e) ; the Ibises {Ibididce) ; and the Spoonbills {Plataleidce). 

 As a group the Herodiones are recognized by their sharp powerful bill, generally 

 coulter- shaped and longer than the head ; their small nostrils ; their long and very 

 flexible neck ; their stilt- like legs ; long broad wings, and their short tail. Their 

 toes are never fully webbed, and their feet are capable of grasping the branches 

 of trees on which most of them are wont to perch. The Herodiones are as a 

 rule gregarious, breeding in colonies, and nesting generally in high trees, but 

 often also on the ground. The young are hatched with their eyes closed, but 

 being naked and helpless have to be fed in the nest till fledged. In some species 

 the youn^ are pure white in both sexes, and at all ages ; in other pairs of the same 

 species the male differs from the female when young, or remains of a different 

 colour all through life. 



If one habit more than another distingviishes these birds, it is their custom 

 of stealthily stalking along the margin of the sea, of streams or ponds, in quest 

 of their food, which consists of fish, small reptiles, moUusca, and insects, as well 

 as small mammals. 



Vol IV. B 



