Whoever has once set eyes on the Boatbill or Savacou ([Fig. 140)] will never forget the bird, or confound it with any other. What, it will be asked, is there so characteristic about it? Nothing else but its bill, which certainly is the most singular implement one can well imagine. Fancy two long and wide spoons, with their hollow sides placed one against the other, the end of the upper spoon being furnished with two sharp teeth, and we shall have some idea of this extraordinary storehouse, as it may be called, for the proprietor can easily stuff into it provisions for a whole day. If we add to this that the Savacou possesses a beautiful black crest which hangs down behind its head, that it is about the size of a Fowl, also that it has short wings, and rests its four toes firmly on the ground, we shall then have a pretty exact portrait of our subject. This bird inhabits the savannahs of Central America, and occasionally the southern portion of the United States, frequenting the banks of rivers, where it feeds on fish, mollusks, and sometimes crabs. It makes its nest in the thick underbrush.
The Herons (Ardea), which form a genus of birds of the order of Cultrirostres, have the bill long, pointed, opening widely, and very strong; their legs are in part bare of feathers; toes long, and furnished with sharp claws, not excepting the back toe, the whole length of which rests upon the ground; the neck is long and slender. Further, the back of the head is adorned with a tuft of long feathers, which fall over its shoulders like a plume, whilst those in front, which are narrow and pendent, resemble a kind of beard at the bottom of the neck.
These birds lead a semi-nocturnal life, and frequent the margins of lakes, marshes, and rivers, where they feed on reptiles, frogs, and fish. They are generally of a shy nature, and live in solitude in the most unfrequented portions of extensive woodlands. When they want to seek their prey, they go into the water until it reaches half-way up their legs, and with the neck doubled down over the breast, and the head buried between the shoulders, they sometimes remain for hours together immovable as statues. If any fish glides along within reach of them, they suddenly stretch out their necks, as if impelled by a spring, and, with a sharp movement of the bill, impale the unfortunate victim. When their fishing is not very productive they dig into the mud with their feet, to turn out the frogs and other reptiles that are concealed in it. If compelled by hunger, they will attack rats, wood and field mice, and if further pressed they show no repugnance to carrion. They can, however, endure abstinence for a considerable time.
Most of the Herons are endowed with great powers of flight. When compelled by unusually severe weather, they occasionally migrate, the young and the old travelling separately. Nevertheless, as they can accommodate themselves to almost any temperature, some species are stationary, and they are to be met with all the year round in countries the most dissimilar.
The principal species of Herons are the Ash-coloured or Common Heron ([Fig. 141]), the Purple Heron, the White Heron, the Bittern, the Night Heron, and the Crab-eater.
Every one knows the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), at least by reputation, if only from La Fontaine's verse:—
"Heron with the long bill, fit handle of a longer neck."
Its height is about forty inches, and it is found in nearly all parts of the globe. It is the most common of the French Herons, and the only one which joins its fellows during the breeding season, in order to build their nests and sit on their eggs, and rear their young in company. The place appropriated for this assemblage is generally a clump of lofty trees in the neighbourhood of some large lake or river. On the summits of these trees, or in the angles formed by the branches, the Herons build their nests, which are of very simple construction—a few boughs interwoven together with smaller twigs, and without any additions, such as moss, grass, &c., with which smaller birds love to line their dwellings. In these nests the females lay three or four eggs, and the males share with them the cares of incubation. After the eggs are hatched, the male assists in the nourishment of the young family. Frequently he disgorges into the bills of his young ones the frogs and small fry he has just swallowed; sometimes he divides among them a large fish which he brings from the adjacent lake or the more distant sea-shore. Occasionally they undertake journeys in order to insure abundance for their progeny, and their excursions often extend over a very considerable tract of country.
When the young Herons are able to fly, they leave the nest and provide for their own wants.
But the time for migration has arrived. About the beginning of August, and always at the same date, the colony, then amounting to five or six hundred individuals, range themselves in order and quit the heronry. The following year they return thither, and their arrival, like their departure, takes place on a regular day. It is remarked that the number of couples is always nearly the same as that of the nests, so that each couple may readily find a resting-place. The new generation must, therefore, have gone to found a fresh colony in some other locality.