306 NIGHT HERON. 



places where the cedars have been cut down for sale, the birds have 

 merely removed to another quarter of the swamp ; but when personally 

 attacked, long teased and plundered, they have been known to remove 

 from an ancient breeding place, in a body, no one knew where. Such 

 was the case with one on the Delaware, near Thompson's Point, ten or 

 twelve miles below Philadelphia ; which having been repeatedly attacked 

 and plundered by a body of Crows, after many severe renconters, the 

 Herons finally abandoned the place. Several of these breeding places 

 occur among the red-cedars on the seabeach of Cape May, intermixed 

 with those of the Little White Heron, Green Bittern, and Blue Heron. 

 The nests are built entirely of sticks, in considerable quantities, with 

 frequently three and four nests on the same tree. The eggs are gener- 

 ally four in number, measuring two inches and a quarter in length, by 

 one and three-quarters in thickness, and of a very pale light blue color. 

 The ground, or marsh, below is bespattered with their excrements, lying 

 all around like whitewash, with feathers, broken egg-shells, old nests, 

 and frequently small fish, which they have dropped by accident and 

 neglected to pick up. 



On entering the swamp, in the neighborhood of one of these breeding 

 places, the noise of the old and the young would almost induce one to 

 suppose that two or three hundred Indians were choking or throttling 

 each other. The instant an intruder is discovered, the whole rise in 

 the air in silence, and remove to the tops of the trees in another part 

 of the woods ; while parties of from eight to ten make occasional circuits 

 over the spot, to see what is going on. When the young are able, they 

 climb to the highest part of the trees ; but, knowing their inability, do 

 not attempt to fly. Though it is probable that these nocturnal birds do 

 not see well during the day, yet their faculty of hearing must be exqui- 

 site, as it is almost impossible, with all the precautions one can use, to 

 penetrate near their residence, without being discovered. Several 

 species of Hawks hover around, making an occasional sweep among the 

 young ; and the Bald Eagle himself has been seen reconnoitring near 

 the spot, probably with the same design. 



Contrary to the generally received opinion, the males and females of 

 these birds are so alike in color, as scarcely to be distinguished from 

 each other ; both have also the long slender plumes that flow from the 

 head. These facts I have exhibited by dissection on several subjects, 

 to different literary gentlemen of my acquaintance, particularly to my 

 venerable friend, Mr. William Bartram, to whom I have also often 

 shown the young, represented at fig. 3. One of these last, which was 

 kept for some time in the botanic garden of that gentleman, by its voice 

 instantly betrayed its origin, to the satisfaction of all who examined it. 

 These young certainly receive their full colored plumage before the 

 succeeding spring, as on their first arrival no birds are to be seen in the 



