112 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Admirable structure for taking its prey. 



better to retain the fish. The bill is long and 

 sharp ; having serratures towards the point, 

 which stand backwards ; these, after the prey is 

 struck, act like the barbs of a fish-hook, in de- 

 taining it till the bird has time to seize it with 

 the claws. Its broad, large, concave, and ap- 

 parently heavy wings for so small a body, are of 

 great use in enabling it to carry its load to the 

 nest, which is sometimes at a great distance. 

 Dr. Derham tells us, that he has seen lying 

 scattered under the trees of a large heronry, 

 fishes of several inches in length, which must 

 have been conveyed by the birds from the dis- 

 tance of several miles : and D'Acre Barret, Esq. 

 the owner of this heronry, saw a large eel that 

 had been conveyed thither by one of them, not^ 

 withstanding the inconvenience that it must have 

 experienced from the fish writhing and twisting 

 about. The body of the heron is very small, 

 and always lean ; and the skin is said to be 

 scarcely thicker than what is called goldbeaters'- 



This, of all the birds that are known, is one 

 of the most formidable enemies to the scaly 

 tribe. There is, in fresh waters, scarcely a fish, 

 however large, that he will not strike at and 

 wound, though unable to carry it oflf : but the 

 smaller fry are his chief subsistence : these, pur- 

 sued by their larger fellows of the deep, are 

 obliged to take refuge in shallow waters, where 

 they find the heron a still more formidable ene- 



