THE ItERON-TRIBE 
Althotigh the heron-like birds are so strikingly adapted 
for the life they lead it must be noted that they are^ at the same 
time, by no means prevented from perching on trees and 
although an otherwise graceful heron may look somewhat 
grotesque struggling to retain its balance on a slender branch 
in the topmost part of a tall tree, they are in fact so thoroughly 
at home under these seemingly abnormal circumstances that a 
good many species actually place their rough nests of sticks 
in trees. Several or many pairs of birds frequently nest 
together on the same tree, or group of trees, and thus form a 
colony. Herons usually lay pale greenish-blue eggs but in 
the case of the bitterns the eggs are whitish or buffy in colour. 
The trw storks are peculiar in that thev have no real voice. 
The black and white stork so weU-known in Europe 
compensates himself for the lack of a voice by making a very 
noisy clattering of the bill. This "instrumental music" is 
produced by snapping the mandibles together. The herons, 
egrets and bitterns are perhaps noteworthy on account of 
their huge appetites w^hich are perhaps insatiable where frogs 
and fish are concerned and It may be remarked that digestion 
is a very rapid process in these birds* 
We cannot lea\T our genera! consideration of the herons 
without calling attention to certain aspects of the so-called 
/'plumage trade" with which these birds are intimately 
connected. 
Steps have been taken to improve the existing appalling 
conditions and it is to be hoped that the traffic in the plumage 
of wild birds will soon be entirely stopped. 
A descriptive label in the heron case in the bird-room of 
the Raffles Museum puts the matter very concisely: — 
"Attention may be specially drawn to the Little Egret (No. 6) 
as k is from this species that the *osprey* or 'aigrette' 
feathers are obtained as well as from the Great White Heron 
(Hcrodias egretta) of America. These feathers only grow in 
the breeding season; those most in request come from the hack 
of the bird, though at this season heautiful ornamental plumes 
ajjpear on the head and breast as welL In order to obtain 
these coveted plumes for the millinery trade it is necessar}^ to 
kill the bird, as the occasional feathers dropped by the bird 
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