GRALL.E. 



239 



2;rouncls. Tlie ancrents frequently speak of it, because the principal course of its migrations appears to be 

 tbrou;?h Greece and Asia Minor. 



Between the Crciues and Herons may Ijc placed 



The Courlan [ {Aramus, Vieillot),] 



The beak of which, more slender and rather more deeply cleft than that of the Cranes, is swoln near 



the terminal third of its length; and the toes are comparatively lonj, without any hasal membrane. 



[Its anatomy approaches that of the Rails]. 



The species {Ard. scolopacca, Gm.)> resembles the Herons in size as well as manners, and bas brown pluma^^i 

 with some wliite pencils on the neck. 



Also 



The Carle {Earopyr/a, HHg.), — 

 With a beak more slender than that of the Cranes, but marked with a similar nasal groove, and split 

 nearly to the eyes, as in the Herons, but having no naked skin at its base. 



It IS a bird the size of a Partridj::e, with a lonf^ and slender neck, broad open tail, and rather short legs, which 

 altogetber impart a very difi'erent aspect from that of the wading birds in general. Its plumage, shaded with 

 bunds and lines of brown, fulvous, russet, grey and black, recalls to mind the colouring of some of the most beau- 

 tiful Jlotbs. It is found along the rivers of Guiana, [and we suspect is closely allied to the African genus 

 Rh undue a]. 



The second tribe is more carnivorous, and is characterized by its stron2:er beak, and longer 

 toes : [they mostly nestle npon trees in large societies, and tbe young are at first helpless and 

 naked]. At its head may be placed 



The BoATBiLLS {Cancroma, Lin), — 

 Which would completely resemble the Herons in the strength of their bill, and the kind of nourish- 

 ment resulting therefrom, M'ere it not for the extraordinary form of that organ ; as, upon close exami- 

 nation, we find that it is merely the beak of a Heron or Bittern, very much inflated : in point of fact, the 

 mandibles are singularly wide from right to left, and formed like the bowls of two spoons, the concave sides 

 of which are placed in contact. These mandil)les are very stout and sharp-edged, and the upper one has 

 a iiointcd tooth on each side of its tip ; the nostrils, pierced towards the base, are prolonged into two 

 parallel grooves to near the end. The feet have four toes, all of them long, and nearly without con- 

 necting membrane ; for which reason these birds perch on the branches of trees by the sides of rivers, 

 from which they precipitate themselves on the fish, which constitute their ordinary food. Their gait is 

 slow, and their attitudes constrained hke those of the Herons. [The Boatbills are, in brief, simply 

 modified Herons, from -which they differ only in their inflated beak, conforming in their whole 

 anatomy.] 



The known species (C. cochlearen, liin.), is the size of a common Fowl, and 

 whiti&h, with a grey or brown back, the belly rufous, and forehead white; 

 head adorned with a black calotte, which, in the adult male, becomes a 

 lengthened crest : it inhaliits the hot and bumid regions of South America. 



The Hkiloxs {J/yJea, Liu.), — 

 Have the beak cleft as far as the eyes, with a small nasal fossa pro- 

 longed into a groove neariy to the point : they are also distinguished 

 by the pectinated inner edge of the claw of their middle toe. Their 

 legs arc seutellated, with the toes (including the hind one) rather 

 long [and articulated on the same plane] : the palmature of the outer 

 ones is eonsideralde, and their eyes are placed in a naked skin, which 

 extends to the beak. Their stomach is a very large sac, but slightly 

 muscular, [the intestines extremely long and slender,] and they have 

 only one minute ccecura. Tliey are unlivcly birds, which nestle and 

 perch by the sides of rivers, and consume a vast quantity of fish. The 

 species are very numerous in both continents, and can scarcely he dis- 

 tinguished except iiy differences of plumage. 

 , ri . u The True Herons have a verv slender neck, with long and pendent feathers 



riiT.llS. — bUrnuni uf Parple Heron, - r ^ ^ 



towards its base. As 

 The Common Heron (A. major & .1. cinerca, Lin.).— Bluish ash-coloured, with a black occipital crest ; the neck 



