626 



THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 



Since the iicsls in tliis mild cliniale ccmlain eggs l)y tlie ist of April, 

 a visit should be jiaid to a heronry about the second or third week in 

 Mav, if one would experience the most striking sensations. In the absence 

 of the old birds, the voungsters. awkward, scrawny. ill-fa\iired little brutes 

 that thev are, spend most nf their lime si|uabbling and lr\"ing tn inish 



Taken in California. 



Photo by H. T. Dohlman and IV. L. Finley. 

 A TU Eli TOP COLO.NY. 



each other fi'om the nest. Now and then one succeeds in sending a biother 

 down the long abvss, but oftener Ihc pursued one escapes along a branch, 

 or, if he falls, catches cm a liml) belnw, and scrambles to safety, tmith and 

 toe-nail. 



But howeser scattered the young may be, the approach of the parent 

 bird is a signal for all to gather. Upon alighting, the old bird first indulges 

 a pensive moment, like a cow wliich is expecting another order nf grass 

 sent up from the proventriculuni, after which she suddenly jabs licr bill 

 down the neck of the nearest s(|uawker and disjjenses sweet nourishment 

 from her secret store. This she does with each child in turn till all are 

 fed. 



W'henever the old birds are about, the young keep up a loud cackling, 

 not unlike that of Guinea liens, but less shrill and of immensely greater 

 \dhime. The parents, t(i(>, make an astonishing amount of noise, roaring 

 at times like caged lions. This bellowing of the Heron, as rendered at 

 home or as produced when frightened at close quarters, is, without exaggera- 



