NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 121 



Young. — I have described the process of feeding the young, as I 

 have seen it, under the great bhie heron, but Dr. Frank M. Chapman 

 (1908) has given such a good account of it that I am tempted to quote 

 his observations on the Ward heron, as follows: 



The young herons were almost as easily alarmed as their parents, and, at the 

 first sign of danger, squatted flat in the nest with close-pressed bills. It was not 

 long, however, before the alert attitude of the young indicated beyond question 

 the proximity of one of the parents and, following the direction of their eager, 

 expectant look, I discovered the splendid creature perched on the higher growth 

 to the left, clean-cut and statuesque against the sky. She stood there calmly, 

 showing no trace of the intense excitement which now possessed her offspring, 

 and quietly surveyed her surroundings. Assured that all was well, with erect 

 plumes and partly expanded wings, she slowly walked downward toward the 

 nest, with a dignity of motion and majesty of pose I have never seen excelled 

 by any other bird. The young now were frantic with excitement and, in chorus, 

 uttered their cuk-cuk, cuk-cuk feeding call. As the parent stepped slowly into 

 the nest its bill was seized by one of the young. The young bird did not thrust 

 its bill down the parental throat nor was the parent's bill introduced into that 

 of the young. The hold of the young bird was such as one would take with a 

 pair of shears, if one were to attempt to cut off the adult's bill at the base. In 

 this manner the old bird's head was drawn down into the nest where more or 

 less digested fish was disgorged, of which all the young at once partook. On 

 one occasion the adult disgorged a fish at least a foot in length, and on discover- 

 ing that it was too large for the young the parent reswallowed the fish and 

 returned to a perch near the nest while awaiting for the processes of digestion 

 to continue the preparation of the meal. 



Young Ward herons have a peculiar habit, which is common to 

 all the herons when exposed to the direct rays of the hot sun, of open- 

 ing their mouths and vibrating their throats rapidly; this may be 

 caused by fear or nervousness, but it seems more Ukely that it indi- 

 cates distress from overheating and that it serves as a means of cool- 

 mg their bodies by evaporation; a dog pants and hangs out its tongue 

 when overheated; and probably young herons and young cormorants 

 pant in this way for the same reason. 



Young Ward herons are rather more precocial than their northern 

 relatives, for their nests are usually closer to or even on the ground, 

 which makes it easier for them to wander. I have seen young birds 

 of all ages up to fully grown in the nests, and I believe that they 

 prefer to remain in the nests, if undisturbed. But if frightened, they 

 will readily leave the nests, particularly nests on or near the ground, 

 when half grown or more. I have found it very diiiicult to photo- 

 graph at close range any of the large young in ground nests. It is 

 surprising to see with what speed the larger young can run, with the 

 help of their wings which are then well grown. 



Food. — The food of this subspecies does not differ materially from 

 that of other great blue herons; it consists mainly of lisli, but is 

 varied occasionally with mammals, birds, reptiles, crustaceans, and 

 insects. C. J. Maynard (ISOB) relates an interesting experience; ho 



