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Webster 1913 Edition
Heron
Her′on
,Noun.
[OE.
heiroun
, heroun
, heron
, hern
, OF. hairon
, F. héron
, OHG. heigir
; cf. Icel. hegri
, Dan. heire
, Sw. häger
, and also G. häher
jay, jackdaw, OHG. hehara
, higere
, woodpecker, magpie, D. reiger
heron, G. reiher
, AS. hrāgra
. Cf. Aigret
, Egret
.] (Zool.)
Any wading bird of the genus
Ardea
and allied genera, of the family Ardeidae
. The herons have a long, sharp bill, and long legs and toes, with the claw of the middle toe toothed. The common European heron (Ardea cinerea
) is remarkable for its directly ascending flight, and was formerly hunted with the larger falcons. ☞ There are several common American species; as, the great blue heron (
Ardea herodias
); the little blue (Ardea cœrulea
); the green (Ardea virescens
); the snowy (Ardea candidissima
); the night heron or qua-bird (Nycticorax nycticorax
). The plumed herons are called egrets
. Heron’s bill
(Bot.)
, a plant of the genus
Erodium
; – so called from the fancied resemblance of the fruit to the head and beak of the heron.Webster 1828 Edition
Heron
HER'ON
,Noun.