Descrir- 
TION. 
COMMON HERON. Crass If 
from this diversion; but in course of time serv- - 
ed to express great ignorance in any science. 
This bird was formerly much esteemed as a 
food ; made a favourite dish at great ‘ables, and 
was valued at the same rate as a pheasant. It 
is said to be very long lived; by Mr. Keysler’s 
account it may exceed sixty years*: and by a 
recent instance of one that was taken in Hol- 
land by a hawk belonging to the stadtholder, its 
longevity is farther confirmed, the bird having a 
silver plate fastened to one leg, with an inscrip- 
tion, importing it had been before struck by the 
elector of Cologne's hawks in 1735. 
The male is a most elegant bird; the weight 
about three pounds and a half, the length, three 
feet three ; the breadth, five feet four. The bill 
is six inches long, very strong and pointed; the 
edges thin and rough; the color dusky above, 
yellow beneath; the nostrils linear; the irides of a 
deep yellow ; the orbits and space between them 
and the bill covered with a bare greenish skin. 
The forehead and crown white, the hind part 
of the head adorned with a loose pendent crest 
of long black feathers waving with the wind ; 
the upper part of the neck is of a pure white, 
* Keysler’s Travels, i. 70- 
