Great Blue Heron 83 



Distribution. — From Alaska and Labrador south through the West 

 Indies an,d Central America to Venezuela ; a summer resident only, 

 north of the middle states ; south of this, a resident. 



The Great Blue Heron is found throughout Colorado on migration 

 and breeds in suitable localities, chiefly in the north-eastern part of the 

 State, but also in the mountain parks up to about 8,000 feet. It 

 arrives from the south about the second week of April. Frey saw 

 one at Salida as early as March 30th. 



It has been observed nesting on the Cache la Poudre Creek near 

 Fort Collins (Cooke), at Windsor (Hall), on Crow Creek, north-west 

 of Greeley (Markman), on the St. Vrain near Lyons, in Boulder co. 

 (Henderson), near Barr (Rockwell & Hersey), in Middle Park by 

 Carter, and in Wet Mountain Valley at about 8,000 feet, by Baker 

 (Cooke). In Mesa co. on the western slope it appears to be common 

 up to 9,000 feet, but has not been found breeding ; while Aiken observed 

 it on one occasion as late as November 27th near Divide in Teller co., 

 at about 9,000 feet. 



Habits. — This large Heron, often mis-called the " Blue 

 Crane," is chiefly met with along the larger rivers and 

 lakes ; here it can often be seen standing motionles? 

 in the shallows, in a somewhat stilted attitude, watching 

 intently for small fishes or frogs, which it quickly 

 snaps up. The flight though powerful is rather heavy 

 and leisurely, the neck crooked and the head drawn 

 back between the shoulders and the legs stretched out 

 behind. They are solitary birds, except during the 

 breeding season, when they generally nest in commu- 

 nities, called heronries. The nest is usually placed in 

 high trees, but sometimes in bushes or on the ground or 

 among the rocks. In Colorado the higher cotton-woods 

 along the rivers and creeks are usually chosen. 



A set of four eggs of this Heron was presented to the 

 Colorado College Museum by I. C. Hall. They were 

 taken from a heronry of about 200 nests in high cotton- 

 wood trees near Windsor on the Cache la Poudre River. 

 The nests were thirty feet up, and were made of small 

 twigs put solidly together. The eggs were taken May 



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