The Heron is quite susceptible of training when it is caught young; but it must always be little else than a bird of ornament, as the service it can render amounts to little or nothing. When adult at the time of capture it is altogether intractable, entirely refusing food, and dying at the end of a few days. The Purple Heron (_Ardea purpurea_) has the same habits as the one just spoken of, but it is a little smaller. It owes its name to the colour of the numerous spots which adorn its livery. It is rarely met with in France, but is pretty common at the mouths of the Danube and Volga, and on the margins of some of the lakes in Tartary. The White Heron (_Egretta alba_) is remarkable for its plumage, which is entirely of a pure white. Two varieties of it are known--the larger, generally called the Great Egret, is about the size of the Ashy Heron; it is common in Eastern Europe, in the North of Africa and America, and in the Malay Archipelago. The smaller kind is known by the name of the Garzette Heron, or the Little Egret, and is no bigger than a Crow; it inhabits the confines of Asia and Eastern Europe, and regularly visits the South of France. [Illustration: Fig. 141.--Common Herons (_Ardea cinerea_, Temm.).] These two species are adorned, during the breeding season, with fine and silky feathers, which spring from the shoulders, and, spreading out over the back, fall on each side of the tail in elegant plumes. These are the feathers with which European ladies are so fond of adorning themselves, and from them the birds have derived their name. Northern Africa presents us with a beautiful White Heron, about the size of a Pigeon, the functions of which are extremely interesting; it is called the Ox-keeper. In Morocco this bird is very common. It is in the habit of accompanying the oxen into the fields, and takes the task of relieving the latter from the numerous flies and insects with which they are annoyed. In France it is met with only at the mouth of the Rhône. The BITTERN (_Botaurus_) has both the neck and legs shorter than those of the Grey Heron; its plumage is of a rich reddish yellow, boldly variegated with dark markings. Districts intersected by marshes are the chief places of its resort; in these it keeps itself hidden all day long among the reeds, motionless and silent. Here, too, it makes its nest, almost on the ground, and close to the water. It does not leave its hiding-place until the evening, and then will fly up to so great a height as to be lost to view. Its call to its mate is peculiar; it resembles the bellowing of a bull, and can be heard more than half a league away. For this reason the ancients called it _Bos taurus_--whence, by corruption, comes the French _Butor_.