A R D E A. 
132 
tortoife, ten inches long, was found in its craw, and a large 
male black cat was found entire in its ftomach.” The 
lame fpecies feems to have been remarked by Mr. Smeath- 
m.in in Africa, white resident there 5 an adult of one of 
which will often mealure (even feet when (landing erect. 
He defctibes the plumage much the fame as Mr. Ives’s 
bird; adding, “that the gape is monftrbufly wide: the 
head is covered w ith white down, thinly difperled, ap¬ 
pearing not unlike a grey-headed man : on the middle of 
the neck before, a long conic membrane, like a bladder, 
fprinkled very thinly with fhort down, fifing or falling as 
the animal moves the beak, and always appearing in¬ 
flated. Thefe birds are met with in companies. A 
young bird, about five feet in height, was brought up 
tame, and prefented to the chief of the Bananas, where 
Mr. Smeathman lived ; and, being accuflomed to be fed 
in the great hall, foon became familiar, duly attending 
that place at dinner-time, and placing itfelf behind its 
matter's chair, frequently before any of the guefts entered. 
The fervants were obliged to watch it narrowly, and to 
defend the provifions with Twitches in their hands; but, 
notwitliftanding this, it would frequently fnatch off forne- 
what or. other, and it once feized a whole boiled fowl, 
which it fwallowed in an inttant. Its courage is not equal 
to its voracity ; for a child of eight or ten years old foon 
puts it to flight with a (witch, though at firff it feems to 
Hand upon its defence, by threatning with its enormous 
bill widely extended, and crying out with a loud hoarfe 
voice like a bear or tiger. It is an enemy to final 1 qua¬ 
drupeds, as well as birds and reptiles, and dettroys fowls 
and chickens, though it dare not attack a hen with her 
young openly s it preys alfo on rats, young kittens, and 
the like ; and has been known to fwallow a cat whole : a 
bone of a fliin of beef, being broken afunder, fcrves it but 
for two morfels. The individual above-mentioned tiled 
to fly about the ifland, and rood very high among the filk- 
cotton trees; from whence, at two or three miles dittance, 
it could fpy the dinner carrying acrof's the yard; when, 
darting from its ftation, it would enter promifcuoufly with 
the women who carried in the diflies. When fitting, it 
was obferved to red itfelf on the whole length of the hind 
part of the leg. It I'ometimes flood near, for half an hour 
after dinner, with the head turning alternately, as if lift- 
ening to the converfation.” It is certainly the molt ex¬ 
traordinary bird of this numerous genus. 
7. Ardea gigantea, the Siberian crane : white ; temples 
and front naked, red, wrinkled ; ten fil'd quill-feathers 
shining black ; bill and legs red. Bill ferrate; irids pale 
white; tail with twelve fubeqiial feathers; the year-old 
bird is tawnyifh, beneath white ; face and legs greenifh- 
brown. Inhabits the vafl marfhy flats of Siberia; feeds 
on reptiles, worms, and finall fifh ; (lands four leet and a 
half high. 
III. Stotks. Orbits naked. 
8. Ardea ciconia, the white dork ; white ; orbits and 
quill-feathers black; bill, legs, and (kin, red. Inhabits 
Europe, A fia, and Africa ; three feet thrge inches long ; 
feeds on fiih and reptiles, and is in fome countries held 
facred for its ufe in dedroying ferpents ; fleeps on one 
leg ; in autumn migrates in vait and orderly flocks to the 
fens of Egypt and Barbary; greater wing-coverts black. 
9. Ardea maguari, American (tork : white ; orbitsand 
.legs red ; bill cinereous; upper tail and greater wing-co¬ 
verts, quill-featiiers and fcapulars, black. Bill nine inches 
long, tiie bafe yellowifh-green ; irids filvery ; feathers of 
the throat long, lux ; claws broad, fiat. Inhabits the 
warmer parts of America; three and a half feet long. 
10 Ardea nigra, the black dork: brown; brealt and 
belly white. Bill greenifh-grey tipt with wliitifh ; fea¬ 
thers of the hind-head and under the neck long ; neck and 
(ides of the head (billing azure; le^-. red. Inhabits Eu¬ 
rope and Afi.i: two feet nine inches long; is timid, and 
retires into thick woods and inaccefiible fens; feeds on 
fifh and reptiles. See Plate III. 
IV. Herons and Bitterns. Middle daw ferrate inwardly. 
11. Ardea dubia, the gigantic heron: glaucous, be¬ 
neath dirty-white ; bill a little triangular. Bill of many 
colours, fix teen inches round at the bafe ; gape of the 
mouth very large ; head and neck nakediih ; in the mid¬ 
dle of the neck is a long membranous conic bag, thinly 
covered with down; quill-feathers brown; legs black. 
Inhabits India and Africa: feven feet high when (land¬ 
ing; is docile, eafily tamed,and very voracious; feeds on 
fifh, birds, and reptiles. 
12. Ardea torquata, the wreathed heron: hind-head 
black, crefted ; back brown; neck and belly dirty-white; 
bread black with yellowifli lunules. Inhabits South 
America. 
13. Ardea nifticorax, the. night heron: crefl on the 
hind-head white, horizontal, of three feathers; back 
black; belly yellowifh, (male.) Head fmooth, brown; 
belly brownifh, beneath white ; fil'd quill feathers with a 
white fpot at the tip, (female.) Bill black, yellowilh at 
the bafe ; lores and orbits green. Male; a white band 
on the front ; head as far as the middle of the neck black ; 
quill and tail-feathers cinereous; legs yellowiihgreen. 
Female; crown brown; crefl none; body grey, brown ; 
neck beneath with a rufty line ; eighteen firfl quill-feathers 
with a white fpot at the tip; tail-feathers edged with 
white; lores white; legs brown. Inhabits Europe, Alia, 
and America : twenty inches long, buiids in trees or 
among rocks; feeds on fifh ; migrates, and frequents the 
mouths of rivers and dagnant martties. 
14. Ardea Jamaicenfis, the Jamaica night heron : brown, 
beneath white ; head fuberefted ; bread and belly with 
brownifh flreaks. Bill dufky ; lores and orbits greenifh ; 
chin and vent white; primary quill-feathers tipt with 
black; legs brown. Inhabits the woods of Jamaica ; one 
foot eleven inches long. 
15. Ardea Caledonica, the Caledonian night heron: 
ferruginous, beneath white; crefl on the hind-head of 
three feathers; frontlet black; eyebrows white. Bill 
black; area of the eyes green; legs yellow. Inhabits 
New South Wales : twenty-two inches long. 
16. Ardea oblcura, the dufky heron : crefl on the hind- 
head of one feather ; body above greenifh, beneath chef- 
nut, longitudinally ftriped with white and ferruginous; 
quill-feathers with a white fpot at the tip. Bill recurved., 
greenifh-black ; feathers of the cred white ; front, crown, 
and nape, dufky-chefnut; back and wing-coverts dufky- 
chefnut and gold-green; legs fhort, greenifh. Inhabits 
Sclavonia; fize of Ardea dellaris. 
17. Ardea Cayanenfis, the Cayenne night heron: ci¬ 
nereous; head black, crown whiie ; crefl unequal, of fix 
feathers, half white, half black. Bill black; lores pale 
green ; a white line from the nodrils beneath the eyes to 
the hind head ; body blueifh-afh ; quill-feathers black; 
legs yellowilh. Inhabits Cayenne ; twenty-one inches long. 
18. Ardea purpurea, the crefted purple heron : hind- 
head black ; crefl pendent, of two long feathers ; body 
olive, beneath purplifh. Bill brown tipt with dufky, 
beneath yellowilh; crefl black ; orbits naked yellowilh ; 
from the angle of the mouth to the hind head a black 
ftreak ; chin white; upper half of the neck rufous, with 
three longitudinal black lines, the reft olive behind, ru¬ 
fous at the fides, and reddifh on the fore-part; the feathers 
long, narrow, each with a black fpot ; a black band from 
the middle of the bread to the vent; lower tail-coverts 
white, mixed with rufous and tipt with black ; angles of 
the wings rufolis; quill-feathers dufky; legs greenifh. In¬ 
habits Alia; two feet ten inches long. 
19. Ardea Cafpica, the African heron : crefted; body 
cinereous; chin white ; neck with three black lines. Bill 
and legs yellow ; creft of three long feathers; feathers of 
the break and rump mixed with ferruginous ; from the 
nape to the back a broad black line, and another on each 
of the fides. Inhabits Africa, Alia, and is very rarely 
found in England; fize of Ardea cinerea. 
iO. Arde.t major, the common heron : hind-head with 
a long 
