78 
HERON. 
when they have a young family to provide for, are obliged 
to forage throughout the days. Standing motionless in the 
shallow edge of the river or lake, the head, as before remarked, 
drawn hack in the attitude of expectation, you may see them 
watching, with the patience for which all other anglers 
ought to he equally proverbial, for a ‘bite.’ True waders, 
their food is mostly picked up in the water, but none is 
refused that occurs elsewhere. If dropped from the bill, it 
will be picked up again more than once at the place of 
capture. It is very rarely indeed that the Heron misses its 
mark. It strikes with the most unerring precision, and 
transfixes the quarry with the strong blow that it gives. 
Their note is a harsh, wild cry, uttered on the wing, and 
frequently repeated, The word ‘craigh’ uttered in a lengthened 
manner, with cracked and high-pitched voices,’ as the bird 
heavily wends its way to any accustomed haunt by the bank 
of some river, reedy lake, or rushy pond, the margin of 
some muddy estuary, or creek, or the edge of some stagnant 
swamp or quaggy morass. It is also heard while on 
migration. 
The Heron builds, according to circumstances, either on 
the ground, in which situation Montagu saw several, or on 
trees of any sort; also, it is said, on cliffs, preferring situations 
in the vicinity of water. Many nests are often placed on it 
together—as many as eighty have been counted in one tree. 
Preparations for nidifieation are made about the month of 
April. The nest is placed on the very summit of the tree, 
or as close to it as the case will admit of, and also near 
the extremity of the branch, the size of the bird not admitting 
of a ready passage inwards. The nest, flat in shape, is rather 
small for the size of the tenants that have to inhabit it, but 
in some cases is much larger than in others, probably from 
an old one being built on. It is made of stick and twigs, 
and has a lining of wool or hair, rushes, dry grasses, water- 
flags, straws, or any soft materials. 
Two broods are reared in the season, and both parents 
assist in the work of providing the young with food, and 
the male also feeds the female while sitting. If alarmed for 
their young, they soar about aloft over the nests. 
The eggs are generally three in number, sometimes, it is 
said, four or five, and of a green colour. They vary in shape, 
some being pointed at both ends, and others only at the 
lower end. They are hatched in about three weeks, and it 
