HERON (OF. hairon. heron, Fr. h(ron. Prot'. nigron, heron, from 011(I. heigir, heron, AS. gorq: coffin-Hell with AS. hcapra. OS. h•eicra, 3111G. rciacr. Ger. leriher, heron, Skt. krakana, hrakara, partridge, and Lat. crocirc, Gk. xpt/eiv krizein, to screech, (loth. hropg. cry, 01111. hruom. tier. Rohm, fame, AS. it roe, Eng. rook). A bird of the genus Arden (and allied genera), of the family Ardeida. and suborder Ilerodii. This family includes also bitterns and night-herons. In it the bill is long. Compressed. and sharp; the tail short, the legs and the toes long and slender, the wings long. Those peculiar patches of soft, oily feathers called 'powder-down' tracts are ways present—three pairs in the true herons, one on the breast. one on the rump. and one under the thighs. In the herons—in which genus are ineluded the species commonly designated egrets (q.v.). which differ only in unimportant lars of plumage—the bill is slender but strong. forming a compressed and lengthened cone: the plumage is beautiful. but seldom exhibits very gay colors, white. brown, black, and slate-color, finely blended, being generally predominant. Al though the sexes usually are alike in color, few birds show greater variety of plumage than the herons, for the breeding plumage is much liner than that of the remahider of the year, and the young are usually very different from the adults. Furthermore, a number of species are dichro made; that is. some specimens show one type of colorat ion and other sis.cimens another type, abso ha•l• without regard to age, season, or sex. (See DiewtomATIsm IN BIRDS.) lu the herons. one of the color phases is generally pure white; the other phase is more or less colored, and is always re markably different. (For the use of the plumage of certain herons as an ornament of costume and in millinery, which has led to their extinction in sonic regions, see AIORET.) The hotly is small in to the length of the reek and limbs: the neck is long, and, except in Hight, is usually held curved. In flight the heron carries the neck. head, and long bill in a straight line before the body. and the long legs in like manner stretched out behind. Herons feed mostly on fish, frogs, and other aquatic animals, and may be seen, par ticularly very early in the morning and late in the evening, standing patiently motionless in some shallow water, at the margin of a lake or stream, or on the seashore, waiting till prey come within reach. In default of their ordinary food. however. herons sometimes prey on young birds. reptiles, and the smaller mammalia. They usu ally go forth singly in quest of prey, hut are mostly gregarious in their nidifieation. The nests are usually built in trees, of coarse slicks with little lining. The eggs are three or four, in color blue or bluish green, without spots.
See Colored Plate of EGGS OF WATER AND GAME BIRDS.
Herons are widely distributed over the globe,. but are especially abundant in the tropics and warm temperate zones. Sonic seventy-five spe. cies are known, of which about a dozen occur in the United States.
The great blue heron (.1 rdca. herodias) is about four feet in length from the point of the bill to the end of the tail. and nearly six feet across the wings. it is of a delicate gray eolor on the upper parts, except the quill-feathers, which are black, and the tail, which is deep slate color. This common heron generally builds its nest in a high tree. and many nests are some times to be seen in a single tree. In northern parts of the continent the heron is known only as a summer bird of passage, but it remains in the Southern United States all the year. Its geographical range extends over most parts of the New World north of the equator. Herons were formerly in great esteem for the table, although now disregarded. The common heron (Ardea eincra) of Europe is very similar to the great blue heron, but has the tibire white instead of chestnut. It is famous as the game which was most eagerly sought in falconry. Other well known American herons are the little green heron (Arden rireseens), which is only about a foot and a half long. the prevailing colors dark green and brown, abundant throughout the United States and a little beyond, hoth north and south; the night-heron (Nyetieorax nyetirorax, var. mrriux), a mere variety of the European night heron, found throughout the United States and Canada. (See NIGIIT-HERON.) The white heron (Arden egretta) and the snowy heron (Ardra candidissima) are southern species, always pure white, the former about GO per cent. larger than the latter; and the reddish egret (Ardea rufa), thi little blue heron (Ardca a•rulea), and the great white heron (Ardca oceidentalis), all of which are dichromatic; the last is the largest American heron, and is about 4/ feet long and 8 feet in extent. The largest known species is the giant heron of Africa (Ardea Goliath), which slightly exceeds these figures. Among other herons of the Old World may be mentioned the following: The purple heron (Ardea purpurca), which is of large size, purplish-blue plumage, and wide distribution (see the Colored Plate of WahEms) ; the great white heron, or great egret (Arden alba), is most common in Turkey and eastward. It is an extremely beautiful bird, with perfectly white plumage, much of it loose and flowing. The little egret (Ardea garzctta) has also white flowing plumage. Consult: New ton, Dictionary of Birds (London and New York, 1896) ; Sclater and Hudson, Argentine Ornithology (London, 188S) ; and American or nithologies.