GREAT BLUE HERON. 91 



renders Herons conspicuous, and, though worthless as 

 food, few so-called sportsmen can resist the temptation 

 of shooting at them when opportunity offers. Several 

 of the Southern species, notably the Snowy Heron and 

 White Egret, are adorned during the nesting season with 

 the beautiful " aigrette " plumes which are apparently so 

 necessary a part of woman's headgear that they will go 

 out of fashion only when the birds go out of existence. 

 One can not blame the plume hunters, who are generally 

 poor men, for killing birds whose plumes are worth more 

 than their weight in gold — the blame lies in another 

 quarter. But I have no words with which to express 

 my condemnation of the man who kills one of these 

 birds wantonly. 



The presence of a stately Great Blue Heron or 



" Crane " adds an element to the landscape which no 



Great Blue Heron, ^^^'^ ^f man can equal. Its grace of 



Ardea herodias. form and uiotiou, cmphasizcd by its 



Plate VI. large size, is a constant delight to the 



eye ; it is a symbol of the wild hi Nature ; one never 



tires of watching it. What punishment, then, is severe 



enough for the man who robs his fellows of so pure 



a source of enjoyment ? A rifle ball turns this noble 



creature into a useless mass of flesh and feathers ; the 



loss is irreparable. Still, we have no law to prevent it. 



Herons are said to devour large nnmbers of small fish. 



But is not the laborer worthy of his hire ? Are the fish 



more valuable than this, one of the grandest of birds ? 



The Great Blue Heron breeds throughout North 

 America, but there are now only a few localities in the 

 northeastern States where it may be found nesting. We 

 usually see it, therefore, as a migrant in April and May, 

 and from August to November. 



The Little Green Heron is the smallest, as the Great 

 Blue Heron is the largest, of our Herons. Its small 



