ARDEAD^. 
173 
poultry-yards : its note is very singular, and has given 
rise to its popular name of trumpeter : only two species 
are known, in size somewhat larger than a domestic fowl. 
The majestic elegance of the demoiselle cranes (Anthro- 
po'ides Vieil.) is well known, from their frequency in our 
menageries ; the head is generally bare of feathers, and 
ornamented by a singular lateral crest. We were 
the first, we believe, who detected this genus in Europe ; 
specimens of the Ardea Puimiina L. having been brought 
to us, when in Malta, from the little island of Lam- 
pidosa, where they are by no means scarce. The more 
typical cranes (Grus Pall.) are large birds, few, indeed, 
in species, but dispersed over Europe, America, and 
Asia : they seem to prefer the seclusion and the security 
of marshes, and feed both upon seeds, herbage, worms, 
and small reptiles. The ArdeadcB, or typical herons, 
differ from the last in being composed of birds decidedly 
carnivorous : they are known by a larger and more 
pointed bill, and by the superior length of the legs. 
Of this subfamily we have more than one indigenous 
species. The herons, as a whole, are the most beautiful 
of all the waders, not so much from the colours of their 
plumage, as from the elegant crests and prolonged leathers 
which ornament nearly all the species. They build in 
societies, but generally feed and live solitary. Like the 
kingfishers and many of the fissirostral birds, the 
greater part watch for their prey from a fixed station : 
a sheltered nook by the side of a river, or a projecting 
rock by the sea-side, over deep water, frequently serves 
them as a convenient post ; here they watch for passing 
fish, which they dexterously spear or transfix by their 
long and sharp bill. Some of these birds are of a gigantic 
size ; others arc very small; but a have all very long neck, 
covered more or less by long and loose feathers. The 
tiger bitterns ( Tiyrmmia Sw.) are exclusively found in 
South America, but the true bitterns seem restricted to 
no particular climate. The boat-bills {Cancroma L.) 
differ most essentially from the herons, since they have 
a short and very broad bill, shaped something hke a boat 
