in ornithology. See Ardea.

This bird is a very great devourer of fish, and will do more mischief to a pond than even an otter. Some say that an heron will destroy more fish in a week than an otter will in three months; but that seems carrying the matter too far. People who have kept herons, have had the curiosity to number out the fish they fed them with into a tub of water; and counting them again afterwards, it has been found that a heron will eat 50 moderate-sized dace and roaches in a day. It has been found, that in carp-ponds visited by this bird, one heron will eat up 1000 store carp in a year, and will hunt them so close that very few can escape. The readiest method of destroying this mischievous bird is by fishing for him in the manner of pike, with a baited When the haunt of the heron is found out, three or four small roach or dace are to be procured, and each of them is to be baited on a wire with a strong hook at the end; entering the wire just under the gills, and letting it run just under the skin to the tail: the fish will live in this condition five or six days, which is a very essential thing; for if it is dead, the heron will not touch it. A strong line, about two yards long, is then to be prepared of silk and wire twisted together; tie this to the wire that holds the hook; and to the other end there is to be tied a flake of about a pound weight. Let three or four of these baits be sunk in different shallow parts of the pond, and in a night or two the heron will not fail of being taken by one or other of them.—When hawking was in use, the heron afforded a great deal of sport to people who loved that diversion. There is but very little art in this flight of the hawk; but as both birds are large and courageous, the flight is finer than in the flight of smaller birds that make no resistance.