Book III. O^^IT* HO LOqY. z 7 <? 



divarication are joyned together by a fhort membrane, becaufe it muft needs be con- 

 versant about waters. The Claw of the back-toe is greater than the reft. Upon the 

 tips of the feathers of the Head ftuck certain fmall, tender, white capillaments 3 

 which argued this to be a young bird. 



t III. 



Thelejfer aft-coloured Heron , called by the Germans, The Night-raven. 



IT is much letter than the precedent, and hath a fhorter Neck. Its Back and the 1 

 crown of its Head are black 5 its Neck afti-coloured. Its Throat and Belly tin- 

 ctured with yellow. A white line is extended from the Eyes to the Bill. From the 

 hinder part of the Head it hath a Creft of three feathers five inches long hanging 

 down over the Back, whereby it is differenced from all other birds* Its Wings and 

 Tail are cinereous : Its Bill black : Its Legs and Feet of a yellowifh green. 



At Sevenhuys, a Village in Holland in a fenny Country, not far from Leyden, we 

 defcribed a young bird of this kind ( as I fuppofe ) taken out of the Neft, thus. Its 

 Legs and Feet were green, and thofe bare of feathers for about an inch above the 

 knees. The outmoft Toe connected with the middle one by an intervening mem- 

 brane from the divarication to the firft joynt : The Claw of the middle Toe ferrate 

 on the inner fide, as in the common Heron. The Eyes of a lovely yellow. In the 

 colour of its body it comes nearer to a Bittour than to the common Heron-fiaw. Two 

 rows of the greater Wing- feathers are black, with white tips. The Tail is of a dusky 

 aih-colour, the tips of its component feathers being alfo white. The Back and Neck- 

 feathers are black, with red (hafts, or red lines in the middle. In the Neck the red 

 lines are broader. The tips of the lefler covert feathers of the Wings decline from 

 white to red. The Belly is white, with black (pots : The Chin white : The fea- 

 thers on the Throat on one fide white, on the other black. After it hath mew'd its firft: 

 feathers without doubt it changes its colour, asmoft other birds do. It hath a great 

 Gall j a large Stomach, glandulous within, but not fleftiy or mufculous (which kind 

 we in Englijh call a Gizzard ) in it were the (hells of Beetles. In the middle of the 

 bone called the Merry-thought is an Appendix. This Bird lays white Eggs. 



The Germans call it, Nacht rab, that is, Night-raven, and under that title it is figu- 

 red and defcribed by Gefner, whence * Aldrovandus propounds it under the title of* omithl 

 Night-raven for a diftinct (pedes of bird, fubjoyning it to the Corvus Sylvaticus of Gef- Iib - *?• ca P°5# 

 ner. It is called Night-Raven, becaufe in the nighttime it cries with an uncouth voice, 

 like one that were (training to vomit. 



§. IV. 



The great white Heron. Ardea alba major. 



IT weighed forty ounces. Its length from the tip of the Bill to the end of the 

 Feet was fifty three inches and an half 5 to the end of the Tail no more than forty. 

 Its breadth, as we reckon it, between the tips of the Wings extended fixty inches and 

 an half 



Its colour was all over as white as fnow. The number of the main feathers of its 

 Wings was about twenty feven 5 of its Tail twelve : The length of its tail fix inches 

 and an half It had no Creft. Its Bill, as in the common Heron, was yellowiih. The 

 edges of its Eye-lids, and that naked fpace between the Eyes and Bill green. The 

 Eyes of a pale yellow. The Legs for fome fpace above the knees bare of feathers. 

 The Feet andTalons black : The outer fore-toe connected with the middle one from 

 the divarication to the firft joynt by an intervening membrane. The Claw of the 

 middle toe had its interiour edge * ferrate. * Sawed 6t 



The figure of the Breaft-bone was arcuate [bending like a Bow ] as in other He- toothed, 

 tons. The vertebres of the Back were fix or feven: Thofe of the Neck to the 

 fourth were bent downwards, all the reft upwards. It had a great Gall : A triangu- 

 lar A^endix on the Merry-thought. Of its fat is made Oil good for the wind, "&& 



This differs from the common Heron, i.In magnitude, as being leffer than that. 

 2- In the length of its Tail. 3. In that it wants a Creft. A certain EngUJli man ( faith 

 Aldrovand) affirmed, that he had feen white Herons, though but rarely, which nei- 

 ther in bignefsof body nor fhape differed at all from the common Heron, but only in 



coiouro 



