THE HERONS 



1233 



cause a few fishermen believe that they are destructive 

 to trout wfhen, as a matter of fact, trout form a very 

 small part of the diet of a very few individuals and 

 these could advantageously be dealt with in other ways 

 than by removing protection from the entire species. 

 Fortunately real sportsmen are as fond of the herons 



A NOVEL MARKET BASKET 



The Least Bittern brings back the fish and frogs to its young in its throat 

 and regurgitates them as shown in the next picture. 



as they are of the fish and many an ardent disciple of 

 Isaac Walton is willing to share even his trout stream 

 with the herons for the sake of having them about. 



The same may be said of the bitterns which are 

 likewise denied protection. Occasionally an unfortu- 

 nate bittern takes up its residence in a marsh border- 

 ing a trout stream and in his hunt for frogs and 

 tadpoles may occasionally catch a trout fingerling. The 

 vast majority of bitterns, however, live in the warm 

 marshes where trout are never found and where they 

 fall easy victims to the Sunday sports in their row- 

 boats and the small boys with Flobert rifles hunting 

 for the largest targets they can find. 



The black-crowned night herons are about the size 

 of the bittern and indeed the immature birds closely 

 resemble them though the adults are entirely dififerent, 

 being nearly pure white or pearl gray in color with 

 black crowns and mantles. They are nocturnal in their 

 iiabits, usually roosting in trees during the day and com- 



ing out at dusk when their loud "quas" are familiar 

 sounds in parts of the country where they are found. 

 They nest in large colonies like the great blue herons 

 but usually in smaller trees and sometimes in woods 

 even at a distance from water. 



The yellow-crowned night heron is a very different 

 looking bird, confined to the marshes of the southern 

 states and thence southward into the tropics. It nests 

 in pairs along streams or associated with colonies of 

 other herons. 



One of the commonest herons of the southern states 

 is the little blue heron which, because of the lack of 

 ornamental plumes, has been allowed to survive even in 

 large colonies. It is about the size of the little green 

 heron and like it has a chestnut head and neck. The 

 crown is the same color as the rest of the head, however, 

 and the entire upper parts are dark slaty blue. The 

 immature birds are pure white except for the tips of 

 the wings and look very much like snowy egrets but, of 



course, do not 



have the orna- 

 mental plumes. 



Mottled individ- 

 uals in the proc- 

 ess of changing 



from white to 



blue are often 



seen. 



A somewhat 



larger species 



but similar in 



color, except for 



the white on its 



under parts, is 



the Louisiana 



heron which in 



parts of Florida 



still occurs in 



rookeries c o n - 



taining t h o u - 



sands of birds. 



A still larger 



species and 



much rarer is 



the reddish egret 



which differs 



from both the 



little blue and 



BREAKFAST ALA-MODE (HEROXj 



The old bird turns its head on one side and the 

 young grasps the base of its bill. Breakfast is 

 served by vigorous pumping of the old bird's 

 throat. 



Louisiana herons in having a tuft of about thirty 

 "aigrette" feathers growing from between the shoulders 

 during the breeding season. It likewise has a white 

 immature phase which was once thought to be a distinct 

 species and called "Peale's heron." 



The best "aigrette" plumes are found on the two white 

 egret herons in which the "aigrettes," like the rest of the 

 bird are snowy white. The larger egret approaches a 

 great blue heron in size while the snowy egret is but 

 little larger than the little green heron. Both species 

 have about fifty straight plumes growing from be- 



