From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Heron \Her"on\, noun [OE. heiroun, heroun, heron, hern, OF. hairon, F. h['e]ron, OHG. heigir; cf. Icel. hegri, Dan. heire, Sw. h["a]ger, and also G. h["a]her jay, jackdaw, OHG. hehara, higere, woodpecker, magpie, D. reiger heron, G. reiher, AS. hr[=a]gra. Cf. {Aigret}, {Egret}.] (Zo["o]l.) Any wading bird of the genus {Ardea} and allied genera, of the family {Ardeid[ae]}. 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.
Note: There are several common American species; as, the great blue heron ({Ardea herodias}); the little blue ({Ardea c[oe]rulea}); 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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to determine the area of a triangle and who described various mechanical devices (first century) [syn: {Hero}, {Hero of Alexandria}]
2: gray or white wading bird with long neck and long legs and (usually) long bill
From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:
From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:
Heron, MT -- U.S. Census Designated Place in Montana Population (2000): 149 Housing Units (2000): 63 Land area (2000): 3.392157 sq. miles (8.785645 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 3.392157 sq. miles (8.785645 sq. km) FIPS code: 35875 Located within: Montana (MT), FIPS 30 Location: 48.057437 N, 115.960373 W ZIP Codes (1990): 59844 Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Heron, MT Heron
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Heron (Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18), ranked among the unclean birds. The Hebrew name is _'anaphah_, and indicates that the bird so named is remarkable for its angry disposition. "The herons are wading-birds, peculiarly irritable, remarkable for their voracity, frequenting marshes and oozy rivers, and spread over the regions of the East." The Ardea russeta, or little golden egret, is the commonest species in Asia.
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