Swiftness has generally been considered the attribute of birds, but the Dodo appears never to have had any title to this distinction. Instead of exciting the idea of swiftness by its appearance, in the drawings that have been preserved of it, it strikes the imagination as a thing the most unwieldy and inactive of all nature. Its body is massive, almost round, and covered with grey feathers. It is just barely supported upon two short thick legs, like pillars; while its head and neck rise from it in a manner truly grotesque. The neck, thick and pursy, is joined to the head, which consists of two immense jaws, opening far beyond the eye. The Dodo formerly inhabited the Isle of France; but it has been long extinct—so long, indeed, that the very fact of its ever having existed at all has been a subject of dispute amongst naturalists and scientific men. A great deal of evidence, in the form of old pictures as well as in writings, has been brought forward to prove that the Dodo is not a fabulous bird, and its reality is now generally admitted. In fact, we have very reliable testimony that a single specimen was actually exhibited publicly in London in the year 1638.
The Dodo was supposed by the earliest naturalists who described it, to be a kind of turkey, as in the flavour of its flesh it resembled that bird. Later naturalists supposed it to be a kind of swan, and this opinion was followed by the celebrated Buffon. Others thought it was a kind of vulture; and others, judging from the shortness of its wings, placed it in the ostrich tribe. Modern naturalists, however, having carefully examined the bones of the bird, which have been preserved, are of opinion that it was a gigantic pigeon. An entire specimen existed about a hundred years ago in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, but only part of the bird and one of the feet remain; there is also a foot preserved in the British Museum. There is a reference to this extinct species in Humboldt’s Cosmos. (See Bohn’s edition, vol. i. page 29, and a note on the Dodo, by Dr. Mantell, at the end of the volume.)
The Solitaire is another remarkable bird which was formerly found in the Mauritius and the adjoining islands, but which has now become extinct.
Is the largest Pigeon found in our island, by which it may be distinguished from all others; its weight is about twenty ounces, its length eighteen inches, and its circumference about thirty. It is usually known as the Wood Pigeon. This bird is of a bluish grey colour, with the feathers of the sides of the neck tipped with white, forming several imperfect rings; the breed is common in Britain. Its habits are like those of other birds of the tribe, but it is so strongly attached to its native freedom, that all attempts to domesticate it, with a few rare exceptions, have hitherto proved ineffectual.
These birds build their nests chiefly on the pine, or holly, with dried sticks thrown rudely together; and the eggs, which may frequently be seen through the bottom of the nest, are larger than those of the domestic Pigeon.
Mr. Montague bred up a curious assemblage of birds, which lived together in perfect amity; it consisted of a common pigeon, a ringdove, a white owl, and a sparrowhawk; the ringdove was master of the whole.
This bird is called the Stockdove, because it builds in the stocks of trees which have been headed down, and are become thick and bristly; and not, as some have supposed, because it is the stock, or original, from which all the tame pigeons have sprung. Sometimes these birds lay their eggs in deserted rabbit-warrens, on the sod, without making any nest.
The colour of the Stockdove is generally of a deep slate or lead tint, with rings of black about the feathers. While the beech woods were suffered to cover large tracts of ground, these birds used to haunt them in myriads, frequently extending above a mile in length, as they went out in the morning to feed. They are still found in considerable quantities in many parts of England, but never in Scotland, forming their nests in the hollows of trees; not like the ringdove, on boughs. Their murmuring strains, or cooings, in the morning and at dusk, are highly pleasing, and throw an agreeable melancholy on the solitude of the grove. The poet of the Seasons expresses this in the following lines, with a beautiful instance of imitative harmony:
Wordsworth also gives a pleasing description of the mournful cooing of these birds:
The shape of this bird, which is the original stock of our domestic Pigeons, is well known, and the plumage of the wild birds is exactly similar to that of the commonest kind seen in our dove-cots—bluish-grey, with black bands across the wings. In its wild state it inhabits the cavities of high rocks and cliffs on the sea coast, where it is found abundantly in our own country. The female Pigeon lays two eggs at a time, which produce generally a male and a female. It is pleasing to see how eager the male is to sit upon the eggs, in order that his mate may rest and feed herself. The young ones, when hatched, are fed from the crop of the mother, who has the power of forcing up the half-digested peas which she has swallowed to give them to her young. The young ones, open-mouthed, receive this tribute of affection, and are thus fed three times a day.
There are upwards of twenty varieties of the domestic Pigeon, and of these the carriers are the most celebrated. They obtain their name from being sometimes employed to convey letters or small packets from one place to another. The rapidity of their flight is very wonderful. Lithgow assures us that one of them will carry a letter from Babylon to Aleppo (which, to a man, is usually thirty days’ journey) in forty-eight hours. To measure their speed with some degree of exactness, a gentleman, many years ago, on a trifling wager, sent a Carrier Pigeon from London, by the coach, to a friend at Bury St. Edmunds, and along with it a note, desiring that the Pigeon, two days after its arrival there, might be thrown up precisely when the town clock struck nine in the morning. This was accordingly done, and the Pigeon arrived in London at half-past eleven o’clock on the same morning, having flown seventy-two miles in two hours and a half. An instance of still greater speed is mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, in which a Carrier flew from Rouen to Ghent, a hundred and fifty miles in a straight line, in one hour and a half. From the instant of its liberation, its flight is directed through the clouds, at a great height, to its home. By an instinct altogether inconceivable, it darts onward, in a straight line, to the very spot whence it was taken, but how it can direct its flight so exactly will probably for ever remain unknown to us.
The Carrier Pigeon is easily distinguished from the other varieties by a broad circle of naked white skin round the eyes, by the large fleshy wattle at the base of its bill, and by its dark blue or blackish colour.
It would be as fruitless as unnecessary to attempt to describe all the varieties of the Tame Pigeon; for human art has so much altered the colour and figure of this bird, that pigeon-fanciers, by pairing a male and female of different sorts, can, as they express it, “breed them to a feather.” Hence we have the various names of Carriers, Tumblers, Jacobins, Croppers, Pouters, Bunts, Turbits, Shakers, Fantails, Owls, Nuns, &c., all of which may, at first, have accidentally varied from the Rockdove, and these have been further improved by crossing, food, and climate. An actual post system, in which pigeons were the messengers, was established by the Sultan Noureddin Mahmoud, which lasted about a century, and ceased in 1258, when Bagdad fell into the hands of the Moguls.
This Dove brings to the heart and mind the most pleasing recollections; its name is nearly synonymous with faithfulness and unvariable affection. The male or female is so much attached to its respective mate that it is said, perhaps with more poetry than truth, that if one die the other will never survive; however, the author of these observations was an eye-witness to the death of a female Turtle Dove, who was unfortunately killed by a spaniel, in the absence of the male; the disconsolate survivor, after having in vain searched everywhere for his mate, came and mournfully perched upon the wonted trough, waiting patiently for her to repair thither in order to get food; but, after two days of unavailing expectation, he, by spontaneous abstinence, pined and died on the place. Such examples are not common; and we believe that, when not domesticated, the appearance of another female, in the time of coupling, sets at defiance all natural propensity to constancy, and puts an end to the much-famed disconsolate widowhood. Their general colour is a bluish grey; the breast and neck of a whitish purple, with a ringlet of beautiful white feathers with black edges about the sides of the neck. Nothing can express the sensation which is excited in a feeling mind when the tender and sweetly plaintive notes of the Turtle Dove breathe from the grove on a beautiful spring evening:
This bird is a native of Africa, and is so tall that when it holds up its head it is seven or eight feet in height. The head is very small in comparison with the body, being hardly bigger than one of the toes, and is covered, as well as the neck, with a kind of down, or thin-set hair, instead of feathers. The sides and thighs are entirely bare and flesh-coloured. The lower part of the neck, where the feathers begin, is white. The wings are very short in proportion to the size of the bird, and in fact are too small to enable it to fly; but when it runs, which it does with a strange jumping kind of motion, it raises its short wings and holds them quivering over its back, where they seem to serve as a kind of sail to gather the wind, and carry the bird onwards. The speed which it will thus attain is enormous. The swiftest greyhound cannot overtake it; and indeed an Arab on his horse cannot hope to capture an ostrich without having recourse to stratagem. He dexterously throws a stick between its legs as it runs, and so tripping it up, is enabled to secure it.
In its flight it spurns the pebbles behind it like shot against the pursuer. And this is not their only mode of annoyance. They have been known to attack men with their claws, with which they are able to strike with terrific force. The feathers of the back in the cock are coal black, in the hen only dusky, and so soft that they resemble a kind of wool. The tail is thick, bushy, and round; in the cock whitish, in the hen dusky, with white tops. These are the feathers so generally in requisition to decorate the head-dress of ladies and the helmets of warriors.
The Ostrich swallows anything that presents itself, leather, glass, iron, bread, hair, &c., but the old notion that the Ostrich could digest metals is certainly incorrect. An Ostrich in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent’s Park was killed by swallowing a lady’s parasol.
They are polygamous birds, one male being generally seen with two or three, and sometimes with five, females. The female Ostrich, after depositing her eggs in the sand, trusts them to be hatched by the heat of the climate; in the Book of Job there is a beautiful passage relating to this habit of the Ostrich, “which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust; and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers. Her labour is in vain; without fear, because God hath deprived her of wisdom; neither has he imparted to her understanding. What time she lifteth up her head on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.” It appears, however, that the female Ostrich sits upon her eggs like other birds, although generally at night only, and brings up her young. The eggs are as large as a young child’s head, with a hard stony shell, and one has been known to weigh upwards of three pounds. The time of incubation is six weeks. That Ostriches have great affection for their offspring may be inferred from the assertion of Professor Thunberg, who says that he once rode past the place where a hen Ostrich was sitting in her nest, when the bird sprang up and pursued him, evidently with a view to prevent his noticing her eggs or young. Every time he turned his horse towards her she retreated ten or twelve paces, but as soon as he rode on again she pursued him till he had got to a considerable distance from the place where he had started her. In the tropical regions, some persons breed Ostriches in flocks, for they may be tamed with very little trouble. When M. Adanson was at Podar, a French factory on the southern bank of the river Niger, two young but full-grown Ostriches, belonging to the factory, afforded him a very amusing sight. They were so tame that two little blacks mounted both together on the back of the largest. No sooner did he feel their weight than he began to run as fast as possible, and carried them several times round the village, and it was impossible to stop him otherwise than by obstructing the passage. This sight pleased M. Adanson so much that he wished it to be repeated, and, to try their strength, directed a full-grown negro to mount the smaller, and two others the larger of the birds. This burden did not seem at all disproportioned to their strength. At first they went at a tolerably sharp trot, but when they became a little heated they expanded their wings, as though to catch the wind, and moved with such fleetness that they scarcely seemed to touch the ground. The foot of the Ostrich has only two toes, one of which is extremely large and strong.
Or American Ostrich, is about half as big as the African species. It has its head covered with feathers, and each of its feet consists of three toes. It is found on the great plains of South America, and, like the African Ostrich, is polygamous, but the curious part of the matter is that the females often lay their eggs almost anywhere on the ground, and the male takes the trouble of collecting them into a sort of nest, and sitting on them until the young birds are hatched. When thus occupied, the males often become very fierce, and will attack any one that approaches them too closely.
Instead of the beautiful plumes of the ostrich, has his wings furnished only with five stiff quills without barbs, which project curiously from the feathers of the body. His plumage is black; his head is small and depressed, with a horny crown or helmet, and covered with a naked red skin; the head and neck are deprived of feathers; about the neck are two protuberances of a bluish colour, in shape like the wattles of a cock. The feathers consist of long, slender, separate barbs, which hang down on each side of the body, so that at a distance he looks as if he were entirely covered with the hairs of a bear rather than with the plumage of a bird. His height is about five feet. The Cassowary is as voracious as the ostrich, and eats indiscriminately whatever comes in his way, and does not seem to have any sort of predilection in the choice of his food. The Dutch travellers assert that he can devour not only glass, iron, and stones, but even burning coals, without testifying the smallest fear, or sustaining the least injury; and it is said that the passage of his food is performed so speedily that even eggs will pass unbroken. He is a native of some of the Indian islands. The eggs of the female are nearly fifteen inches in circumference, of a greenish colour. It has been said of the Cassowary that he has the head of a warrior, the eye of a lion, the armament of a porcupine, and the swiftness of a courser.
A Cassowary once kept in the menagerie of the museum at Paris, devoured every day between three and four pounds weight of bread, six or seven apples, and a bunch of carrots. In summer it drank about four pints of water in the day, and in winter somewhat more. It swallowed all its food without bruising it. This bird was sometimes ill-tempered and mischievous, and much irritated when any person approached it of a dirty or ragged appearance, or dressed in red clothes, and frequently attempted to strike at them by kicking forward with its feet. It has been known to leap out of its enclosure and to tear the legs of a man with its claws.
The Cassowary is very vigorous and powerful; its beak being, in proportion, much stronger than that of the ostrich, it has the means of defending itself with great advantage, and of easily pulling down and breaking in pieces almost any hard substance. It strikes in a very dangerous manner with its feet either behind or before, not unlike the kicking of a horse, at any object which offends it, and runs with surprising swiftness.
The head of this bird is without any horny crest, and feathered, but the cheeks and throat are nearly naked. The general colour is a dull brown, mottled with a dingy grey, and the young are striped with black. In appearance it closely resembles the ostrich, next to which it is the tallest bird known, but is of a more thick-set and clumsy make, though at the same time very swift and strong, and able to make a formidable defence against its hunters and their dogs, by kicking in a very vigorous and dangerous manner. It is, however, very docile, and if taken young may be easily tamed. The flesh is considered excellent eating, and is said to possess a flavour something between a sucking-pig and a turkey. The only sound that this bird emits is a low drumming noise, produced by means of a valve attached to the lungs. The female Emeu lays her eggs in different places, but they are afterwards collected by the male, by rolling them to one place, when he sits on them.
This curious bird, which has the shortest wings of any member of its class, is found only in New Zealand, where it is called Kivi-Kivi by the natives, in imitation of its cry. It is smaller than any of the species of wingless birds just described, and its legs are short and stout; it has three strong front toes on each foot, and a short hinder toe armed with a very strong claw. The body of the Apteryx is something like that of the cassowary in its form; the neck is rather long, and, like the head, clothed with feathers; but the most singular part of the bird is its bill, which is long, rather slender, and slightly curved, and has the nostrils situated quite at its tip. This curious structure of the bill is intended to enable the bird more readily to obtain the worms and insects upon which it feeds, and which it drags out of their holes in the ground. It runs quickly, but only at night, and when in motion it might easily be mistaken for a small dusky-brown quadruped. The plumage resembles that of the emeu in its texture, and the skins are highly esteemed by the New Zealanders, who use them for making cloaks.
Among the many curious characteristics of this bird is its habit of leaning, when at rest, upon the tip of its long bill. When hunted it scrapes a hole in the sand with its powerful feet, in which it hides; or it runs into some natural cavity, if there is any near, where access is difficult for its pursuers, and often makes a valiant defence.
Is a large and fine bird which was formerly common in some parts of England, but has now become so rare here that the capture of a specimen is looked upon as something remarkable. It is still abundant in some parts of the continent of Europe. The male Bustard measures nearly four feet in length, and has the head and neck greyish, the back buff or pale chestnut, with a great many black bars, and all the lower part of the body white. From each side of the chin there springs a tuft of slender feathers about seven inches in length, standing out like a pair of stiff moustaches. The female is a good deal smaller than the male, or about three feet in length; she is also distinguished from her partner by the want of the tufts on the chin, although in some cases these exist in the female, but shorter than in the male.
The Bustard feeds on green vegetables and insects, and are also said to kill and eat small quadrupeds and reptiles. They are polygamous, and when the female has laid her two or three eggs in a slight depression of the ground, and commenced the business of incubation, the male most ungallantly deserts her, and retires to take his ease in some neighbouring marsh. It was formerly supposed that the male Bustard paid so much attention to his mates as to provide them with water, which he was said to bring to them in a large pouch, capable of holding nearly a gallon, situated under his throat. It is true that the female is without this appendage; but modern naturalists all agree in stating that the male bird is never seen in company with the female after she has begun to sit. The use of this pouch is therefore still a subject of controversy.
The female lays her eggs among clover, or more frequently in corn-fields, the nest being merely a hollow scraped in the ground. The eggs are two, or sometimes three, in number, and their colour is a yellowish-brown, inclining to green.
A peculiarity of the Bustard, noticed by most naturalists, is the extreme rapidity with which they can run. They skim along the ground, raising the wings over the back in the same manner as the ostrich. It is said that in former times, when the breed was commoner, it was a practice to hunt the young birds, before they had acquired the power of flying, with greyhounds.
As an article of food the flesh of the Bustard has always been held in great estimation.
There are several other species peculiar both to Asia and Africa.
Cranes frequent marshy places, and live upon small fish and water-insects. Their long beaks enable them to search the water and mud for their prey, and their long necks prevent the necessity of their stooping to pick up from between their feet the objects of their search. The top of the head, the throat, and sides of the neck are of a blackish hue; the back, the wings, and the body are ash-coloured. The tertial feathers of the wings are very long, with loose webs, forming elegant plumes, which fall over the sides of the tail. They used to be common in the fen countries, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, but are not now so frequently seen in England as formerly. In their flight, Cranes mount high in the air, but their voices can be heard even when the birds cease to be perceptible to the eye, and it is said that their sight is so keen that they discover at a great distance any field of corn or other food which they are fond of, and presently alight and enjoy it. These depredations they generally commit during the night, trampling down the ground as if it had been marched over by an army. They generally form themselves in the air in the shape of a wedge.
This bird lives to a considerable age, and as it is easily tamed, it has been ascertained that the Crane often reaches his fortieth year. Its nest is usually built amongst the reeds and sedges of a marsh, but sometimes upon a ruined building. The female lays two eggs, of a pale brown colour, with darker spots.
According to Kolben, they are often observed in large flocks on the marshes about the Cape of Good Hope. He says he never saw a flock of them on the ground that had not some placed apparently as sentinels, to keep a look out while the others are feeding, who on the approach of danger immediately give notice to the rest. These sentinels stand on one leg, and at intervals stretch out their necks, as if to observe that all is safe. On notice being given of danger, the whole flock are in an instant on the wing. Kolben also adds that in the night time each of the watching Cranes, which rest on their left legs, hold in their right claw a stone of considerable weight, in order that, if overcome by sleep, the falling of the stone may awaken them.
Is originally, as the name expresses, a native of Majorca and Minorca, in the Mediterranean sea, which were formerly called the Balearic Isles, but is chiefly found now in the Cape Verd Islands. The shape of its body is not unlike that of the common Crane, but it has a principal and distinctive mark on the head; which is, a tuft of hairs, or rather strong greyish bristles, standing out like rays in all directions, from which peculiarity this species takes its other name of the Crowned Heron. They roost and feed in the manner of peacocks.
The Demoiselle, or Numidian Crane (Anthropoides virgo), is remarkable for the grace and symmetry of its form, and the elegance of its deportment. It is rather larger than the species above described, and is a native of many parts of Africa. It frequents damp and marshy places, in search of small fishes, frogs, &c., which are its favourite food. It is easily domesticated.
The neck, head, breast, and body of this bird are white, the rump and exterior feathers of the wings black; the eyelids naked; the tail white, and the legs long, slender, and of a red colour. Storks are birds of passage. When leaving Europe they assemble together on some particular night, and all take their flight at once. As they feed on frogs, lizards, serpents, and other noxious creatures, it is not to be expected that man should be inimical to them, and therefore they have been generally a favourite with the nations they visit. The Dutch have laws against destroying them: they are therefore very common in Holland, and build their nests and rear their young on the tops of houses and chimneys in the middle of its most frequented and populous cities, and may be seen by dozens familiarly walking about the markets, where they feed on the offal. In some places, the stork is supposed to be a herald of good fortune to the house on which it builds its nest, and the inhabitants place boxes on their roofs to induce the birds to take up their abode there.
The Stork much resembles the crane in its conformation, but appears somewhat more corpulent. The former lays four eggs, whereas the latter lays but two.
It is said that Storks visit Egypt in such abundance, that the fields and meadows are white with them. The Egyptians, however, are not displeased with the sight; as frogs are there generated in such numbers, that did not the Storks devour them, they would overrun everything. Between Belba and Gaza, the fields of Palestine are often rendered desert on account of the abundance of mice and rats; and were they not destroyed the inhabitants could have no harvest. The disposition of the Stork is mild and placid; it is easily tamed, and may be trained to reside in gardens, which it will clear of insects and reptiles. It has a grave air, and a mournful aspect; yet, when roused by example, exhibits a certain degree of gaiety; for it joins in the frolics of children, hopping about and playing with them.
During their migrations, Storks are observed in vast quantities. Dr. Shaw saw three flights of them leaving Egypt, and passing over Mount Carmel, each of which appeared to be nearly half a mile in width; and he says they were three hours in passing over.
The Stork, like the ibis, was an object of worship among the ancients, and to kill them was a crime punishable with death. The Stork is remarkable for its great affection towards its young. This was remarkably evinced during the great conflagration of Delft, in Holland, during which a female Stork was noticed using every endeavour to carry off her young family, and continuing this labour of love until the smoke and flames prevented her own escape, and she perished with her brood.
Also called the Gigantic Crane, is a bird of the stork kind, and a native of India, and other warm countries. The head and neck are bare of feathers, as in the ostrich; the former looking as if made of wood; the latter of a flesh-colour. The coverts of the wings and the back are black, with a bluish cast; the under part of the body whitish; the legs are long, without feathers, and of a greyish hue, as are the thighs, which seem to be as slender as the leg. The bill is of enormous size, and the bird is fond of clatting the two mandibles together. Under the chin, there is a kind of bag or pouch which hangs down in front of the neck, like the dewlap of a cow; in this the Adjutant stores away any provisions that may fall in his way, after his immediate wants are satisfied. He is a most voracious bird, and devours every kind of food, and as he has no objection to carrion, his presence is encouraged in towns, where he assists the vultures, crows, dogs, and jackals, in performing the duties of scavengers. Indeed his rapacity is so great that he swallows such innutritious substances as bone with such eagerness and relish as to have received the name of “Bone-eater,” or “Bone-taker.” When he comes about the houses he requires to be carefully watched, as his power of swallowing is so great that a fowl, a rabbit, or even a leg of mutton, is disposed of at a single mouthful. Sir E. Horne states that in the stomach of an Adjutant were found a tortoise nearly a foot long, and a large black cat; from, which we may see that the Adjutant is by no means squeamish in his diet.
The Adjutant is indeed a very gigantic bird. Its wings often measure fourteen or fifteen feet from tip to tip, and it is five feet high when it stands erect.
Dr. Latham, in his “General History of Birds,” gives some very interesting information about the habits of this bird. “One of them, a young bird about five feet high, was brought up tame, and presented to the chief of the Bananas, where M. Speakman lived; and being accustomed to be fed in the great hall, soon became familiar, daily attending that place at dinner-time, placing itself behind its master’s chair frequently before the guests entered. The servants were obliged to watch narrowly, and to defend the provisions with switches; but, notwithstanding, it would frequently seize something or other, and even purloined a whole boiled fowl, which it swallowed in an instant. Its courage is not equal to its voracity, for a child of eight or ten years old soon puts it to flight with a switch. Everything is swallowed whole, and so accommodating is its throat that not only an animal as big as a cat is gulped down, but a shin of beef broken asunder serves it but for two morsels.”
Another species of Adjutant (Leptoptilus marabou) is found in tropical Africa. It is even uglier than the Indian bird, which has not much beauty to boast of, but is valuable not only as a scavenger, but from its furnishing those beautiful plumes called marabout feathers, which are so much used for ladies’ head-dresses.
The habits of the Heron are peculiar. Perched on a stone, or the stump of a tree, by the solitary current of a brook, his neck and long beak half-buried between his shoulders, he will wait the whole day long, patient and unmoved, for the passing of a small fish, or the hopping of a frog; but his appetite is insatiable.
This bird is about four feet long from the tip of the bill to the end of the claws; to the end of the tail about thirty-eight inches; its breadth, when the wings are extended, is about five feet. The male is distinguished by a crest or tuft of black feathers hanging from the hinder part of his head, which in chivalrous times was of great value, and held as a peculiar mark of distinction when worn above the plume of ostrich feathers.
Virgil places the Heron among the birds that are affected by and foretell the approaching storm:
The Heron, though living chiefly in the vicinity of marshes and lakes, forms its nest on the tops of the loftiest trees. It resembles the rook in its habits: a great number of Herons living together in what is called a Heronry, as rooks do in a rookery. The female lays four large eggs, of a pale green colour; the natural term of this bird’s life is said to exceed sixty years.
In England, Herons were formerly ranked among the royal game, and protected as such by the laws; and when falconry was in fashion, the pursuit of the Heron was a favourite amusement.
It is extremely dangerous to go near a wounded Heron, and the utmost caution is necessary in doing so. Though apparently almost dead, he will yet dart at his enemy’s face, and sometimes inflict a most severe wound.