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TToe Herm^:, or- Heronpsavoi. Ardea cinerea major five Pella. 



Numb. LXVII. 



ITS Weight is three Pound fourteen Ounces and twelve Dra ms ; Length from the 

 End of the Bill to the End of the Claws four Foot ; Breadth when the Wings arc 

 extended five Foot ; the foremoil Feathers of the Head are white, fucceeded by a black 

 Creft four Inches and a half long ; the Chin white, and the Neck white and afh coloured, 

 with Spots of black, and on the lower Part grows fmall, long white Feathers 5 the Back 

 (on which grows nothing but Down ) is covered with thofc long Feathers that fpring 

 from the Shoulders and are variegated with whitifh Strokes tending downwards ; on the 

 middle part of the Breaft, and lower part of the Rump, is a yellowifh Caft or dun Co- 

 lourj and under the Shoulders is a black Spot, from which a black Line is drawn to the 

 Vent. The prime Feathers of the Wings are twenty feven in number, the lafl: of which 

 are afh coloured, and all the reft black, except the outer Edges of the eleven and twelve 

 which are fomewhat cinereous, as are the under Sides of all of them ; the Feathers of the 

 Baftard Wing are black ; under the Baftard Wing is a great white Spot, alfo white Fea- 

 thers cover the Root of the Baftard Wing above, then a white Line is continued all along 

 the Bafis or Ridge of the Wing as far as its fetting on ; ten of the fecond Row of Winc>- 

 Feathers are black, then four or five have their exterior Borders white, and all the reft are 

 afh coloured ; the Tail alfo is afh coloured, feven Inches long, and made up of twelve 

 Feathers. Its Bill is great, ftrong, ftreight, from a thick Bafe gently lefiening into a fharp 

 Point ; from the Tip to the Angles of the Mouth five Inches and a half long, of a brown- 

 ifh red Colour, in fome of a yellowifh green -, the upper Mandible is a little longer than 

 the nether, and therein a Furrow or Grove imprelTed, reaching from the Noftrils to the 

 outermoft Tip ; its Sides towards the Point are fomething rough, and as it were ferrate, 

 for the fafter holding of flippery Fiflies ; the lower Mandible is more yellow, and the Sides 

 of both are thinned into very fharp Edges; the Mouth gapes wide, the Tongue is fharp 

 and long but not hard ; the Eye-lids, and that naked Space between the Eyes and the 

 Bill are green ; the Noftrils are oblong narrow Chinks. The Legs and Feet are of a 

 fwarthy green Colour, and the Toes very long; the outermoft fore Toes are joined to the 

 middle by a Membrane below, and the inner Edge of the middle Claw is ferrate, which is 

 worthy of Notice; its Stomach is large and flaggy, rather membranous than mufculous, 

 as in carnivorous Birds; in which, when diffeded, was found Ivy-leaved Duckmeat', theGuts 

 towards the Vent, where the blind Guts are fituate, are longer than in other Birds; it 

 hath not two blind Guts, one on each Side as in other Birds, but only one, like Quadru- 

 peds, but that bigger than ordinary ; the Gullet under the Chin is dilated into a great 

 Widencfs ; in the middle of the merry Thought is an Appendix, and it hath a long Gail- 

 Bladder. Gefner counts but eleven Vertebres in the Neck; but Mr. Willoughby hath ob- 

 ferved fifteen, of which the fifth hath a contrary Pofition; it feeds on Fifhes, Frogs, &c. 

 a«d oftentimes ftrikcs and wounds greater Fifhes than it can draw out or carry away. You 

 may bring up young Herons by feeding them with Guts and Entrails of Fifh and Flcfh. 

 It fits fometimes with its Neck fo bent up, that its Head is drawn down to ftand bctvi^een 

 its Shoulders. They build on the Tops of great Trees, and many of them together -, 

 there are Heronries in England where they are accuftomed to breed, which are yearly of 

 good Profit to the Owners. 



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