The heron has a demure and melancholy air, and is ex tremely shy, and impatient of confinement. The young are capable of being tamed to a certain degree ; but the old ones, if captured, obstinately refuse food, and pine to death. In this state they have sometimes survived fifteen years. They fly very high in the air, especially before rain, frequently soaring beyond the reach of human vision. In the day-time they are often inactive, or indulge in re pose, but seldom sleep in the night, though they then perch, and are abundantly clamorous. Their cry is shrill and grating, shorter and more plaintive than that of the goose ; but repeated, and prolonged into a more piercing and discordant note when the bird feels pain or uneasiness. Naturally timid and suspicious, they are often disquieted ; the aspect of a man, even at a distance, greatly alarms them ; and they dread the eagle and the hawk, their most determined enemies, whose attack they endeavour to elude by mounting above them in the air. As a last re source, they will, it is alleged, put their head under their wing, and, presenting their sharp-pointed bill to the in vader, him, as he rushes on them with all his weight and impetuosity. The bill is, in fact, a dangerous defensive weapon, to which they have recourse when their adversary least expects it; and sportsmen, accordingly, should approach them with caution when they happen to be only wounded, since, by stretching out their neck to its full length, they can strike to the distance of three feet all around. By suddenly unbending the neck from the shoulders, they dart out the bill, as with a spring, and aim at the eye of their assailant.
Although, in general, shy and solitary in their habits, herons often congregate during the breeding season ; and many of them build their nests in the same place, which is called a heronry. Pennant mentions, that he reckoned eighty nests on one tree ; and Montagu adverts to a he ronry on a small island, in a lake in the north of Scotland, on which there was but a single scrubby oak, which, not being sufficient to contain all the nests, many were placed on the ground. The nest is large and flat, being com posed of sticks, and lined with wool, rushes, feathers, or other soft materials. The eggs are usually four ; but sometimes five or six, of the size of those of a duck, and of a greenish-blue cast. When the female incubates, the male fishes for her, and fetches a portion of his cap tures. Dr. Heysham has given an interesting account of a battle between a colony of herons, and a neighbouring one of rooks. The former having been deprived of their ancient premises by the removal of the trees, made an at tempt to form a settlement in the rookery, which was ef fected after an obstinate contest, in which some on both sides lost their lives. But, after a second victory of the herons in the succeeding year, a truce was agreed on, and both societies lived in harmony together. Dr. Derham tells us, that he has seen lying scattered under the trees of a large heronry fishes several inches in length, which must have been conveyed by the birds from the distance of several miles ; and the owner of this heronry saw a large eel that had been conveyed hither by one of them, notwithstanding the inconvenience which it must have experienced from the fish writhing and twisting about. Heron-hawking was formerly a favourite diversion in this kingdom ; and a penalty of twenty shillings was incurred by any person convicted of taking the heron's eggs. Its
flesh was also in high request, having been deemed a royal dish, and equal to that of the pheasant or peacock. These birds are supposed to live to a considerable age.
4. purpurea, Lih. &c. By Gmelin and Latham it has been variously designated, on account of the changes which it undergoes in its progress to maturity. Thus, it includes A. rufa, botaurus, purpurata, Caspica, and and, in English, it has been denominated the Crested Purple Heron, Rufous Heron, Greater Bittern, Purple Heron, Variegated Heron, and African Heron. Red-green above, purplish-red beneath ; crown black green ; throat white; a rufous purple crest, depending from the occiput. The mature bird measures nearly three feet in length, and four feet eleven inches in extent of wing, and has the base of the neck garnished with purplish-white feathers, and the scapulars with subulated brilliant red-purple plumes. The young under three years want the crest, whose place is merely indicated by a few elegant reddish feathers. They also want the long feathers at the base of the neck and on the scapulars.
The crested purple heron, which is of singular beauty, is common in the western parts of Asia, frequenting the marshy shores of the Caspian and Black Seas, also the Lakes of Great Tartary, and the borders of the large rivers of those parts, as the \Volga and Irtisch. It like wise occurs, though sparingly, in several parts of Europe, as on the banks of the Danube, and the morasses of Hol land ; and a few specimens have, at different periods, been killed in England. In Africa and in Malta it is more abundant. It feeds like its congeners, and builds its nest among reeds, or underwood, but rarely in trees, and lays three greenish.cinereous eggs.
d. garzetta, Lin. Ste. including the nivea of Gmel. and Lath. Egret, Little Egret, or Snowy Heron. Oeciput crested ; body entirely white ; feathers of the upper part of the back elongated and silky ; bill black ; lores and legs greenish. A tuft of very slender and glossy feathers on the under part of the neck. Iris bright-yellow. The old, when moulting, and the young, before the third year, have no long or crest-like feathers. Length of the full grown bird one foot, and ten or eleven inches, and weight about one pound. Not uncommon in many parts of Europe and Asia, and found also in Africa and America, about New York and Long Island, some of the West India Islands, and Cayenne. In summer, they may be traced as far north as Carolina. In Egypt, they may be seen perch ing, towards evening, on the trees. If we may judge from the bill of fare of the feast given by Archbishop Neville, these birds were formerly plentiful in England ; for no fewer than a thousand of them are mentioned in that list. They are now, however, if not exterminated, yet very rare in this kingdom. In their habits, they are more social than some of their congeners, and readily consort even with birds of different families, picking up their prey from the ooze of the sea-shore, Ste. breeding in marshy situations, and laying four or five white eggs. They are said to be tamed without much difficulty. Their plumes, which were formerly employed to decorate the warrior's helmet, are now applied to the head-dress of ladies, and the turbans of the Turks and Persians.