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Show 628 MR. W. H. HUDSON ON THE HABITS OF HERONS. [Nov. 16, pangs of famine inactive, it contracts a meagre consumptive habit body, which subsequent plenty cannot remove. A pretty theory ; but it will not hold water; for in this region spells of bad weather are brief and infrequent; moreover all other species that feed at the same table with the Heron, from the little flitting Ceryle to the towering Flamingo, become excessively fat at certain seasons, and are at all times so healthy and vigorous that, compared with them, the Heron is but the ghost of a bird. In no extraneous circumstances, but in the organization of the bird itself must be sought the cause of its anomalous condition : it does not appear to possess the fat-elaborating power; consequently no provision is made for a rainy day, and the misery of the bird consists in its perpetual, never-satisfied, craving for food. Some writers have expatiated on the extreme insensibility and apathy of the Heron, even charging it with neglect of self-preservation. This is not true ; Herons have as keen a sense of danger as other birds, and their insensibility is only apparent. W e have seen how the Spoonbill, Ibis, and other species, when out of the water, continue to observe motions and assume attitudes practised when feeding; yet these birds require to be active, have a variety of movements and satisfy their hunger in less time than the Heron. The Heron has but one attitude, motionless watchfulness; so that when not actually on the wing or taking the few desultory steps it occasionally ventures on, and in whatever situation it may be placed, tbe level ground, the summit of a tree, or in confinement, it is seen drawn up, motionless and apparently apathetic. But when we remember that this is the bird's attitude during many hours of the night and day, when it stauds still as a reed in the water- that in such a posture it sees every shy and swift creature that glances by it, and darts its weapon with unerring aim and lightning rapidity, and with such force that I have seen one drive its beak quite through the body of a fish very much too large for the bird to swallow and cased in bony armour, it is impossible not to think that it is observant and keenly sensible of every thing going on about it. I have made myself partially acquainted with the habits of eight of our Herons ; but there is such a sameness in the way of life of these birds that most of what I could "say about them would read like a mere repetition of what has been recorded concerning other species. The Cocoi (Ardea cocoi) and the Common Heron of Europe, widely separated as are the continents they inhabit, are identical in habits. The Argentine Nycticorax has one curious habit, but, apart from this, is like the Night-Herons found elsewhere. It lives in colonies of often more than fifty individuals, and perches aloft by day where trees abound; but the bird is also common in the marshes on the treeless pampas. Here the Night-Heron constructs platforms to perch on by breaking and bending the reeds across each other; this false nest is about a foot in diameter and ten or fifteen inches above the water. A pair of Cocois frequenting a stream close to a house I once lived |