The Italian fabulist Laurentius Abstemius seems to have imitated the theme in his story of the Fowler and the Chaffinch (De aucupe et fringilla), included in his Hecatomythium as fable 39 [REF].
The fable of the heron was given popularity in France at a slightly earlier date than in England by being included in the second edition of La Fontaine's Fables, (VII.4) [REF].