Part 6

The common heron of Europe, _Ardea cinerea_ of Linnaeus, is universally allowed to be the type of the family, and it may also be regarded as that of Professor Schlegel's first section. The species inhabits suitable localities throughout the whole of Europe, Africa and Asia, reaching Japan, many of the islands of the Indian Archipelago and even Australia. Though by no means so numerous as formerly in Britain, it is still sufficiently common,[1] and there must be few persons who have not seen it rising slowly from some river-side or marshy flat, or passing overhead in its lofty and leisurely flight on its way to or from its daily haunts; while they are many who have been entertained by watching it as it sought its food, consisting chiefly of fishes (especially eels and flounders) and amphibians--though young birds and small mammals come not amiss--wading midleg in the shallows, swimming occasionally when out of its depth, or standing motionless to strike its prey with its formidable and sure beak. When sufficiently numerous the heron breeds in societies, known as heronries, which of old time were protected both by law and custom in nearly all European countries, on account of the sport their tenants afforded to the falconer. Of late years, partly owing to the withdrawal of the protection they had enjoyed, and still more, it would seem, from agricultural improvement, which, by draining meres, fens and marshes, has abolished the feeding-places of a great population of herons, many of the larger heronries have broken up--the birds composing them dispersing to neighbouring localities and forming smaller settlements, most of which are hardly to be dignified by the name of heronry, though commonly accounted such. Thus the number of so-called heronries in the United Kingdom, and especially in England and Wales, has become far greater than formerly, but no one can doubt that the number of herons has dwindled. The sites chosen by the heron for its nest vary greatly. It is generally built in the top of a lofty tree, but not unfrequently (and this seems to have been much more usual in former days) near or on the ground among rough vegetation, on an island in a lake, or again on a rocky cliff of the coast. It commonly consists of a huge mass of sticks, often the accumulation of years, lined with twigs, and in it are laid from four to six sea-green eggs. The young are clothed in soft flax-coloured down, and remain in the nest for a considerable time, therein differing remarkably from the "pipers" of the crane, which are able to run almost as soon as they are hatched. The first feathers assumed by young herons in a general way resemble those of the adult, but the pure white breast, the black throat-streaks and especially the long pendent plumes, which characterize only the very old birds, and are most beautiful in the cocks, are subsequently acquired. The heron measures about 3 ft. from the bill to the tail, and the expanse of its wings is sometimes not less than 6 ft., yet it weighs only between 3 and 4 lb.

Large as is the common heron of Europe, it is exceeded in size by the great blue heron of America (_Ardea herodias_), which generally resembles it in appearance and habits, and both are smaller than the _A. sumatrana_ or _A. typhon_ of India and the Malay Archipelago, while the _A. goliath_, of wide distribution in Africa and Asia, is the largest of all. The purple heron, _A. purpurea_, as a well-known European species having a great range over the Old World, also deserves mention here. The species included in Professor Schlegel's second section inhabit the tropical parts of Africa, Australasia and America. The egrets, forming his third group, require more notice, distinguished as they are by their pure white plumage, and, when in breeding-dress, by the beautiful dorsal tufts of decomposed feathers that ordinarily droop over the tail, and are so highly esteemed as ornaments by Oriental magnates. The largest species is _A. occidentalis_, only known apparently from Florida and Cuba; but one not much less, the great egret (_A. alba_), belongs to the Old World, breeding regularly in south-eastern Europe, and occasionally straying to Britain. A third, _A. egretta_, represents it in America, while much the same may be said of two smaller species, _A. garzetta_, the little egret of English authors, and _A. candidissima_; and a sixth, _A. intermedia_, is common in India, China and Japan, besides occurring in Australia. The group of semi-egrets, containing some nine or ten forms, among which the buff-backed heron (_A. bubulcus_), is the only species that is known to have occurred in Europe, is hardly to be distinguished from the last section except by their plumage being at certain seasons varied in some species with slaty-blue and in others with rufous. The rail-like herons form Professor Schlegel's next section, but it can scarcely be satisfactorily differentiated, and the epithet is misleading, for its members have no rail-like affinities, though the typical species, which inhabits the south of Europe, and occasionally finds its way to England, has long been known as _A. ralloides_.[2] Nearly all these birds are tropical or subtropical. Then there is the somewhat better defined group of little bitterns, containing about a dozen species--the smallest of the whole family. One of them, _A. minuta_, though very local in its distribution, is a native of the greater part of Europe, and has bred in England. It has a close counterpart in the _A. exilis_ of North America, and is represented by three or four forms in other parts of the world, the _A. pusilla_ of Australia especially differing very slightly from it. Ranged by Professor Schlegel with these birds, which are all remarkable for their skulking habits, but more resembling the true herons in their nature, are the common green bittern of America (_A. virescens_) and its very near ally the African _A. atricapilla_, from which last it is almost impossible to distinguish the _A. javanica_, of wide range throughout Asia and its islands, while other species, less closely related, occur elsewhere as _A. flavicollis_--one form of which, _A. gouldi_, inhabits Australia.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Bittern.]

The true bitterns, forming the genus _Botaurus_ of most authors, seem to be fairly separable, but more perhaps on account of their wholly nocturnal habits and correspondingly adapted plumage than on strictly structural grounds, though some differences of proportion are observable. The common bittern (q.v.) of Europe (_B. stellaris_), is widely distributed over the eastern hemisphere.[3] Australia and New Zealand have a kindred species, _B. poeciloptilus_, and North America a third, _B. mugitans_[4] or _B. lentiginosus_. Nine other species from various parts of the world are admitted by Professor Schlegel, but some of them should perhaps be excluded from the genus _Botaurus_.

Of the night-herons the same author recognizes six species, all of which may be reasonably placed in the genus _Nycticorax_, characterized by a shorter beak and a few other peculiarities, among which the large eyes deserve mention. The first is _N. griseus_, a bird widely spread over the Old World, and not unfrequently visiting England, where it would undoubtedly breed if permitted. Professor Schlegel unites with it the common night-heron of America; but this, though very closely allied, is generally deemed distinct, and is the _N. naevius_ or _N. gardeni_ of most writers. A clearly different American species, with a more southern habitat, is the _N. violaceus_ or _N. cayennensis_, while others are found in South America, Australia, some of the Asiatic Islands and in West Africa. The Galapagos have a peculiar species, _N. pauper_, and another, so far as is known, peculiar to Rodriguez, _N. megacephalus_, existed in that island at the time of its being first colonized, but is now extinct.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Boatbill.]

The boatbill, of which only one species is known, seems to be merely a night-heron with an exaggerated bill,--so much widened as to suggest its English name,--but has always been allowed generic rank. This curious bird, the _Cancroma cochlearia_ of most authors, is a native of tropical America, and what is known of its habits shows that they are essentially those of a _Nycticorax_.[5]

Bones of the common heron and bittern are not uncommon in the peat of the East-Anglian fens. Remains from Sansan and Langy in France have been referred by Alphonse Milne-Edwards to herons under the names of _Ardea perplexa_ and _A. formosa_; a tibia from the Miocene of Steinheim am Albuch by Dr Fraas to an _A. similis_, while Sir R. Owen recognized a portion of a sternum from the London Clay as most nearly approaching this family.

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.

HERPES (from the Gr. [Greek: herpein], to creep) an inflammation of the true skin resulting from a lesion of the underlying nerve or its ganglion, attended with the formation of isolated or grouped vesicles of various sizes upon a reddened base. They contain a clear fluid, and either rupture or dry up. Two well-marked varieties of herpes are frequently met with. (a) In _herpes labialis et nasalis_ the eruption occurs about the lips and nose. It is seen in cases of certain acute febrile ailments, such as fevers, inflammation of the lungs or even in a severe cold. It soon passes off. (b) In the _herpes zoster, zona_ or "shingles" the eruption occurs in the course of one or more cutaneous nerves, often on one side of the trunk, but it may be on the face, limbs or other parts. It may occur at any age, but is probably more frequently met with in elderly people. The appearance of the eruption is usually preceded by severe stinging neuralgic pains for several days, and, not only during the continuance of the herpetic spots, but long after they have dried up and disappeared, these pains sometimes continue and give rise to great suffering. The disease seldom recurs. The most that can be done for its relief is to protect the parts with cotton wool or some dusting powder, while the pain may be allayed by opiates or bromide of potassium. Quinine internally is often of service.

HERRERA, FERNANDO DE (c. 1534-1597), Spanish lyrical poet, was born at Seville. Although in minor orders, he addressed many impassioned poems to the countess of Gelves, wife of Alvaro Colon de Portugal; but it is suggested that these should be regarded as Platonic literary exercises in the manner of Petrarch. As is shown by his _Anotaciones a las obras de Garcilaso de la Vega_ (1580), Herrera had a boundless admiration for the Italian poets, and continued the work of Boscan in naturalizing the Italian metrical system in Spain. His commentary on Garcilaso involved him in a series of literary polemics, and his verbal innovations laid him open to attack. But, even if his amatory sonnets are condemned as insincere in sentiment, their workmanship is admirable, while his odes on the battle of Lepanto, on Don John of Austria, and the elegy on King Sebastian of Portugal entitle him to rank as the greatest of Andalusian poets and as the most important of the followers of Garcilaso de la Vega (see VEGA). His poems were published in 1582, and reprinted with additions in 1619; they are reissued in the _Biblioteca de autores espanoles_, vol. xxxii. Of Herrera's prose works only the _Vida y muerta de Tomas Moro_ (1592) survives; it is a translation of the life in Thomas Stapleton's _Tres Thomae_ (1588).

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--E. Bourciez, "Les Sonnets de Fernando de Herrera," _Annales de la Faculte des Lettres de Bordeaux_ (1891); _Fernando de Herrera, controversia sobre sus anotaciones a les obras de Garcilaso de la Vega_ (Seville, 1870); A. Morel-Fatio, _L'Hymne sur Lepante_ (Paris, 1893).

HERRERA, FRANCISCO (1576-1656), surnamed el Viejo (the old), Spanish historical and fresco painter, studied under Luis Fernandez in Seville, his native city, where he spent most of his life. Although so rough and coarse in manners that neither scholar nor child could remain with him, the great talents of Herrera, and the promptitude with which he used them, brought him abundant commissions. He was also a skilful worker in bronze, an accomplishment that led to his being charged with coining base money. From this accusation, whether true or false, he sought sanctuary in the Jesuit college of San Hermenegildo, which he adorned with a fine picture of its patron saint. Philip IV., on his visit to Seville in 1624, having seen this picture, and learned the position of the artist, pardoned him at once, warning him, however, that such powers as his should not be degraded. In 1650 Herrera removed to Madrid, where he lived in great honour till his death in 1656. Herrera was the first to relinquish the timid Italian manner of the old Spanish school of painting, and to initiate the free, vigorous touch and style which reached such perfection in Velazquez, who had been for a short time his pupil. His pictures are marked by an energy of design and freedom of execution quite in keeping with his bold, rough character. He is said to have used very long brushes in his painting; and it is also said that, when pupils failed, his servant used to dash the colours on the canvas with a broom under his directions, and that he worked them up into his designs before they dried. The drawing in his pictures is correct, and the colouring original and skilfully managed, so that the figures stand out in striking relief. What has been considered his best easel-work, the "Last Judgment," in the church of San Bernardo at Seville, is an original and striking composition, showing in its treatment of the nude how ill-founded the common belief was that Spanish painters, through ignorance of anatomy, understood only the draped figure. Perhaps his best fresco is that on the dome of the church of San Buenaventura; but many of his frescoes have perished, some by the effects of the weather and others by the artist's own carelessness in preparing his surfaces. He has, however, preserved several of his own designs in etchings. For his easel-works Herrera often chose such humble subjects as fairs, carnivals, ale-houses and the like.

His son FRANCISCO HERRARA (1622-1685), surnamed el Mozo (the young), was also an historical and fresco painter. Unable to endure his father's cruelty, the younger Herrera, seizing what money he could find, fled from Seville to Rome. There, instead of devoting himself to the antiquities and the works of the old Italian masters, he gave himself up to the study of architecture and perspective, with the view of becoming a fresco-painter. He did not altogether neglect easel-work, but became renowned for his pictures of still-life, flowers and fruit, and from his skill in painting fish was called by the Italians _Lo Spagnuolo degli pesci_. In later life he painted portraits with great success. He returned to Seville on hearing of his father's death, and in 1660 was appointed subdirector of the new academy there under Murillo. His vanity, however, brooked the superiority of no one; and throwing up his appointment he went to Madrid. There he was employed to paint a San Hermenegildo for the barefooted Carmelites, and to decorate in fresco the roof of the choir of San Felipe el Real. The success of this last work procured for him a commission from Philip IV. to paint in fresco the roof of the Atocha church. He chose as his subject for this the Assumption of the Virgin. Soon afterwards he was rewarded with the title of painter to the king, and was appointed superintendent of the royal buildings. He died at Madrid in 1685. Herrera el Mozo was of a somewhat similar temperament to his father, and offended many people by his inordinate vanity and suspicious jealousy. His pictures are inferior to the older Herrera's both in design and in execution; but in some of them traces of the vigour of his father, who was his first teacher, are visible. He was by no means an unskilful colourist, and was especially master of the effects of chiaroscuro. As his best picture Sir Edmund Head in his _Handbook_ names his "San Francisco," in Seville Cathedral. An elder brother, known as Herrera el Rubio (the ruddy), who died very young, gave great promise as a painter.

HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, ANTONIO DE (1549-1625), Spanish historian, was born at Cuellar, in the province of Segovia in Spain. His father, Roderigo de Tordesillas, and his mother, Agnes de Herrera, were both of good family. After studying for some time in his native country, Herrera proceeded to Italy, and there became secretary to Vespasian Gonzago, with whom, on his appointment as viceroy of Navarre, he returned to Spain. Gonzago, sensible of his secretary's abilities, commended him to Philip II. of Spain; and that monarch appointed Herrera first historiographer of the Indies, and one of the historiographers of Castile. Placed thus in the enjoyment of an ample salary, Herrera devoted the rest of his life to the pursuit of literature, retaining his offices until the reign of Philip IV., by whom he was appointed secretary of state very shortly before his death, which took place at Madrid on the 29th of March 1625. Of Herrera's writings, the most valuable is his _Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del Mar Oceano_ (Madrid, 1601-1615, 4 vols.), a work which relates the history of the Spanish-American colonies from 1492 to 1554. The author's official position gave him access to the state papers and to other authentic sources not attainable by other writers, while he did not scruple to borrow largely from other MSS., especially from that of Bartolome de Las Casas. He used his facilities carefully and judiciously; and the result is a work on the whole accurate and unprejudiced, and quite indispensable to the student either of the history of the early colonies, or of the institutions and customs of the aboriginal American peoples. Although it is written in the form of annals, mistakes are not wanting, and several glaring anachronisms have been pointed out by M. J. Quintana. "If," to quote Dr Robertson, "by attempting to relate the various occurrences in the New World in a strict chronological order, the arrangement of events in his work had not been rendered so perplexed, disconnected and obscure that it is an unpleasant task to collect from different parts of his book and piece together the detached shreds of a story, he might justly have been ranked among the most eminent historians of his country." This work was republished in 1730, and has been translated into English by J. Stevens (London, 1740), and into other European languages.

Herrera's other works are the following: _Historia de lo sucedido en Escocia e Inglaterra en quarenta y quatro anos que vivio la reyna Maria Estuarda_ (Madrid, 1589); _Cinco libros de la historia de Portugal, y conquista de las islas de los Acores, 1582-1583_ (Madrid, 1591); _Historia de lo sucedido en Francia, 1585-1594_ (Madrid, 1598); _Historia general del mundo del tiempo del rey Felipe II, desde 1559 hasta su muerte_ (Madrid, 1601-1612, 3 vols.); _Tratado, relacion, y discurso historico de los movimientos de Aragon_ (Madrid, 1612); _Comentarios de los hechos de los Espanoles, Franceses, y Venecianos en Italia, &c., 1281-1559_ (Madrid, 1624, seq.). See W. H. Prescott, _History of the Conquest of Mexico_, vol. ii.