It remains to say that the herons form part of Huxley's section _Pelargomorphae_, belonging to his larger group _Desmognathae_, and to draw attention to the singular development of the patches of "powder-down" which in the family _Ardeidae_ attain a magnitude hardly to be found elsewhere. Their use is utterly unknown. (A. N.) FOOTNOTES: [1] In many parts of England it is generally called a "hernser"--being a corruption of "heronsewe," which, as Professor Skeat states (_Etymol. Dictionary_, p. 264), is a perfectly distinct word from "heronshaw," commonly confounded with it. The further corruption of "hernser" into "handsaw," as in the well-known proverb, was easy in the mouth of men to whom hawking the heronsewe was unfamiliar. [2] It is the "Squacco-Heron" of modern British authors--the distinctive name, given "Sguacco" by Willughby and Ray from Aldrovandus, having been misspelt by Latham. [3] The last-recorded instance of the bittern breeding in England was in 1868, as mentioned by Stevenson (_Birds of Norfolk_, ii. 164). [4] Richardson, a most accurate observer, asserts (_Fauna Boreali-Americana_, ii. 374) that its booming (whence the epithet) exactly resembles that of its Old-World congener, but American ornithologists seem only to have heard the croaking note it makes when disturbed. [5] The very wonderful shoe-bird (_Balaeniceps_) has been regarded by many authorities as allied to _Cancroma_; but there can be little doubt that it is more nearly related to the genus _Scopus_ belonging to the storks. The sun-bittern (_Eurypyga_) forms a family of itself, allied to the rails and cranes.