Although the heron is of a long, lank, awkward shape, yet its plumage gives it, on the whole, an agreeable appearance; but when stripped of its feathers, it looks as if it had been starved to death. It seldom weighs more than between three and four pounds, notwithstanding it measures about three feet in length, and in the breadth of its wings, from tip to tip, above five. The bill is six inches long, straight, pointed, and strong, and its edges are thin and slightly serrated; the upper mandible is of a yellowish horn colour, darkest on the ridge, the under one yellow; a bare skin, of a greenish colour, is extended from the beak beyond the eyes; the irides of which are yellow, and give them a fierce and piercing aspect.—The brow and crown of the head are white, bordered above the eyes by black lines, which reach the nape of the neck, where they join a long flowing pendent crest of the same colour. The upper part of the neck, in some, is white, in others pale ash, the forepart lower down is spotted with a double row of black feathers, and those which fall over the breast are long, loose, and unwebbed; the shoulders and scapular feathers are also of the same kind of texture, of a grey colour generally streaked with white, and spread over its down-clothed back. The ridge of the wing is white; coverts and secondaries lead colour; bastard wings and quills of a bluish black, as are also the long, soft feathers, which take their rise on the sides under the wings; and, falling down, meet at their tips, and hide all the under parts: the latter, next the skin, are covered with a thick, matted, dirty-white down, except about the belly and vent, which are almost bare. The tail is short, and consists of twelve feathers of a cinereous or brownish lead-colour; the legs are dirty-green, long, bare above the knees, and the middle claw is jagged on the inner edge.
The female has not the long flowing crest, or the long feathers which hang over the breast of the male, and her whole plumage is more uniformally dull and obscure. In the breeding-season they congregate in large societies; and, like the rooks, build their nests on trees, with sticks, lined with dried grass, wool, and other warm materials. The female lays from four to six eggs, of a pale, greenish-blue colour.
The heron is described by Buffon as exhibiting the picture of wretchedness, anxiety, and indigence, condemned to struggle perpetually with misery and want, and sickened by the restless cravings of a famished appetite, &c. However faithful this ingenious naturalist may have been in pourtraying the appearance of the heron, yet others are not inclined to adopt his sentiments in describing its habits and manners, or to agree with him in opinion that it is one of the most wretched of animated beings. It is probable that it suffers no more than other birds, many species of which employ equal attention in looking for their prey, and it is not unlikely that the heron derives pleasure from it instead of pain. This bird, however, is of a melancholy deportment, a silent and patient creature; and will, in most severe weather, stand motionless a long time in the water, fixed to a spot, in appearance like the stump or root of a tree, waiting for its prey, which consists of frogs, waternewts, eels, and other kinds of fish; and it is also said that it will devour field-mice.
The heron traverses the country to a great distance in quest of some convenient or favourite fishing spot, and in its aerial journeys soars to a great height, to which the eye is directed by its harsh cry, uttered from time to time while on the wing. In flying it draws the head between the shoulders, and the legs stretched out, seem, like the longer tails of some birds, to serve the office of a rudder. The motion of their wings is heavy and flagging, and yet they get forward at a greater rate than would be imagined.
In England herons were formerly ranked among the royal game, and protected as such by the laws; and whoever destroyed their eggs was liable to a penalty of twenty shillings for each offence. Heron hawking was at that time a favourite diversion among the nobility and gentry of the kingdom, at whose tables this bird was a favourite dish, and was as much esteemed as pheasants and peacocks.
Great White Heron. (Ardea alba, Linn.; Le Heron blanc, Buff.)—The great white heron is of nearly the same hulk as the common heron, but its legs are longer. It has no crest, and its plumage is wholly white; its bill yellow, and its legs black.
Its character and manner of living are the same as those of the common heron, and it is found in the same countries, though this species is not nearly so numerous. It has rarely been seen in Great Britain. Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, says it is found in the Russian dominions, about the Caspian and Black Seas, the lakes of Great Tartary, and the river Irtisch, and sometimes as far north as latitude 53°. Latham says it is met with in New York, in America, from June to October; at different seasons of the year it is found in Jamaica, and in the Brazils: and our circumnavigators have met with it at New Zealand.
The Night Heron, Lesser Ash-coloured Heron or Night Raven. (Ardea Nycticorax, Linn.; Le Bihoreau, Buff.)—The length of this bird is about twenty inches; the bill is three inches and three quarters long, slightly arched, strong, and black, inclining to yellow at the base; the skin from the beak round the eye is bare, and of a greenish colour; irides yellow. A white line is extended from the beak, over each eye a black patch, glossed with green, covers the crown of the head and nape of the neck, from which three long narrow white feathers tipped with brown, hang loose and waving: the hinder part of the neck, coverts of the wing, sides and tail, are ash-coloured; throat white, forepart of the neck, breast, and belly, yellowish white or buff; the back black, the legs a greenish yellow. The female is nearly of the same size as the male, but she differs considerably in her plumage, which is less bright and distinct, being more blended with clay or dirty white, brown, grey, and rusty ash-colour, and she has not the delicate plumes which flow from the head of the male.
The night heron frequents the sea shores, rivers, and inland marshes, and lives upon crickets, slugs, frogs, reptiles, and fish. It remains concealed during the day, and does not roam abroad until the approach of night, when it is heard and known by its rough, harsh, and disagreeable cry, which is by some compared to the noise made by a person straining to vomit. Some ornithologists affirm that the female builds her nest on trees, others that she builds it on rocky cliffs: probably both accounts are right. She lays three or four white eggs.
This species is not numerous, although widely dispersed over Europe, Asia, and America.