ARDEA, Lin. &c. but much reduced in its range. HERON.
Bill as long as, or longer than, the head, strong, straight, compressed, acute, upper mandible slightly sulcated, ridge rounded ; nostrils lateral, placed almost at the base of the bill, longitudinally cleft in a groove, and half-closed by a membrane ; orbits and lores naked ; legs long and slen der, with a naked space above the knee, the middle toe connected with the outer by a short membrane ; wings moderate.
The birds of this family reside on the banks of lakes or rivers, or in marshy situations, subsisting on fish and their spawn, testacea, field-mice, frogs, insects, snails, worms, &c. Many of them nestle together. In flight, their neck is contracted and folded over their back, while their legs are stretched out behind. They mi grate periodically in large flocks, and moult once in the year. The sexes resemble each other ; but the young differ so much in appearance from the adults, that they have given rise to considerable confusion and discrepancy in the nomenclature.
cinerea, Lin. &c. Common Heron, Prov. Heronsheugh, or Heronshaw, also Crane, Ilegrie, &c. A depending black crest on the occiput ; body cinereous ; lines on tlie neck, beneath, and pectoral bar black. Length about three feet four inches, extent of wing five feet, and average weight three pounds and a half. The young, which have been frequently mistaken for the female, are destitute of the crest and scapulary feathers, and are dis tinguished by appropriate markings. An accidental variety, almost entirely white, has been sometimes met with, but is reckoned very rare.
The common heron is dispersed over most of the countries of the world, having been observed in the arctic regions of Europe and America, in the East and West Indies, in Chili, on the coasts of Africa, in Egypt, Japan, Otaheite, &c. &c. In some latitudes it is migratory, and in others stationary, though it frequently changes its re sidence without varying the climate. It chiefly haunts tall forests, in the neighbourhood of lakes, rivers, or swamps ; but it also frequently exposes itself to all the ri gours of cold and tempestuous whether, when waiting for prey to come within its reach. Like savage man, and other animals which subsist by hunting and fishing, it is capable of enduring protracted abstinence, and of feeding copiously when opportunity offers. It is, moreover, gifted with powers of very rapid digestion. To the scaly
tribe it is one of the most formidable of birds ; for, in fresh water, there is scarcely a fish which it will not strike at and wound, though sometimes it is unable to carry it off; but the smaller fry are its staple fare. Having waded as far as it can into the water, it patiently awaits the approach of its victims, into which, when they come within contact, it darts its bill with undeviating aim. Willoughby tells us, that he saw a heron which -had no fewer than seven teen carp in its belly at a time, which he would digest in six or seven hours, and then go to fish again.
Though the heron usually takes his prey by wading into the water, he frequently also catches it when on wing; but this is only in shallow waters, into which he darts with more certainty than into the deeps, instantly pinning the fish to the bottom, and thus seizing it more securely. In this manner, after having been seen with his long neck for above a minute under water, he will rise on the wing, with a trout or eel struggling in his bill, and after swallowing it entire, on the shore or in the air, will immediately return to fishing. Herons are frequently observed to feed by moonlight, when the fish come into the shoaler waters. They are, in fact, semi-nocturnal in their habits ; and they prey on sea-fish as well as on those in the fresh waters. The different partsof their structure are admirably adapt ed to their mode of life; for they have long legs for the purpose of wading, a long neck to reach their prey, and a wide 'gullet to swallow it. There toes are long, and armed with long hooked talons, one of which is serrated on the edge, the better to retain the slippery spoil. The bill, too, is long and sharp, having serratures towards the point, which stand backwards, and act like the barbs of a fish-hook. Its broad and concave wings are of signal ser vice in enabling it to convey its load of nourishment to the nest, and to transport its comparatively small and meagre body to distant regions. When to these circum stances we add the acute vision and patient vigilance of this bird, we shall see no reason for indulging in the gloomy strictures of Bunn, who would represent it as an instance of neglect and cruelty on the part of nature, as if the supremely wise and good Creator of all could ever destine animals to a life of wretchedness.