HEROLD, LOUIS JOSEPH FERDINAND (1791 1833 ), French composer, the son of Francois Joseph Herold, an accomplished pianist, was born in Paris, on Jan. 28, 1791. In 18o6 Herold entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under Catal and Mehul. In 1812 he gained the Grand Prix de Rome with the cantata La Duchesse de la Valliere, and started for Italy, where he remained till 1815 and composed a symphony, a cantata and several pieces of chamber music. His first opera La Gioventu di Enrico V ., was performed at Naples in After his return to Paris Herold produced numerous works for the stage in rapid succession including the opera La Clochette (1817), L'Auteur mort et vivant (182o), Marie (1826), and the ballets La Fille mal gardee (1828) and La Belle au bois dormant (1829). In 1831 he produced the romantic opera Zampa and in the following year Le Pre aux clercs, both of which contain many fine pages and had great success. These two operas secured im mortality for the name of the composer, who died on Jan. 18, 1833 of the lung disease from which he had suffered for many years. His unfinished opera Ludovic was afterwards printed by J. F. F. Halevy.
See monographs by Jouvin (1868), Berthelot (1882) and Pougin. HERON, a long-necked, long-legged bird, the type of the group Ardeidae. This group may be divided into herons, bitterns, (q.v.), egrets (q.v.) night-herons, and boatbills.
The common heron of Europe, Ardea cinerea, is one of the few large birds now inhabiting Eng land. In olden times it afforded great sport to the hawker. Its flight is lofty and leisurely, but swift. Its food consists of fish, amphibia, and other small ani mals, which it strikes, while wad ing or standing in water, with its dagger-shaped beak. Herons, where sufficiently numerous, breed in colonies called heronries ; the nest consists of a huge mass of sticks, lined with twigs, and is usually, though not invariably, placed on a tree. The light blue eggs number four to six and the young are at first clothed in flax coloured "powder-down." The adult recognized by its long neck, beak, and legs, its broad, slate-coloured wings, and the black plumes on its head. It meas ures 3ft. from bill to tail and may have a wing-spread of 6ft., but it rarely exceeds 4 lb. in weight. The sexes are not very dissimilar. Many herons have adornments in the shape of long plumes spring ing from the shoulder. These correspond to the aigrettes of the egrets, but retain their barbules.
In America the European heron is replaced by the great blue heron (A. herodias) which is larger. A. goliath of Africa and Asia is, however, the largest of the group. The Old World purple heron (A. purpurea) must also be mentioned. The Louisiana heron (Hydranassa tricolor) is an abundant form from North Carolina southwards ; it is recognized on the wing by the conspicuous white abdomen. The little blue heron (Florida coerulea) breeds locally, but in large numbers, from the Gulf State to South Caro lina. It is white when immature.
Of the night herons (Nycticorax), N. nycticorax is widely spread over the Old World, and is replaced by a subspecies in America. Other species are found in America, Asia, West Africa, Australia, and the Galapagos, and a species inhabited Rodriguez at the time of its colonization, but is now extinct.
The boatbill (Cancroma cochlearia) is remarkable for its huge bill. It is a native of tropical America.
Herons have been found in a fossil state in the Miocene and London clay of Europe.