NOETH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 183 



then come gliding down into the trees. When preparing to alight or 

 when circling in a strong wind they sometimes scale along for some 

 distance on set wings. 



These little herons are usually silent; a low clucking or croaking 

 note is occasionally heard while they are feeding or a louder, harsher 

 croak when alarmed. Doctor Chapman (1908) calls them "noisy 

 and quarrelsome, calling at each other notes which sounded strangely 

 like tell you what, tell you what." Doctor Cordier (1923) writes: 



The feeding note of these birds as they approach the nest is much like that of 

 a guinea fowl; the fighting, or quarreling note resembles the scream of a parrot 

 when it sees a dog coming around a corner toward its perch. 



Prof. Julian S. Huxley tells me that the behavior of the little blue 

 heron on its breeding grounds appears to be essentially similar to that 

 of the Louisiana heron, which is so well described in his notes on that 

 species. The courtships, greeting ceremonies, nest-relief ceremonies, 

 and emotional displays are much alike in all three of the small south- 

 ern herons ; they all have plumes or aigrettes which they love to 

 display. Their flight maneuvers are also similar. Little blue herons 

 often travel in loose flocks. A flock of 15 or 20 birds, blue adults 

 and white young birds, frequented some small ponds near my winter 

 home in Florida; when frightened away from the ponds they invari- 

 ably flew to and alighted on one of two dead pine trees in the vicinity; 

 if disturbed there, they all took to wing, circled around in an open 

 flock a few times and then all set their wings, scaling in unison, and 

 returned to one of the trees, where they all gracefully alighted. These 

 trees were their favorite perches to which they returned again and 

 again after a few turns in the air. I have seen all the herons set 

 their wings and scale, at times, especially when returning to their 

 rookeries or when about to alight. 



Enemies. — The lack of marketable plumes has saved this species 

 from much of the slaughter from which the more popular species have 

 suffered. But, in many places in the Southern States and in the 

 West Indies it has been quite extensively killed for food, the young 

 birds being particularly palatable. Its worst natural enemies are 

 crows and vultures, which destroy vast numbers of eggs and young. 

 Fish crows, in Florida, are always sneaking around in the rookeries, 

 looking for a chance to rob any unguarded heron's nests, and the 

 large number of broken eggs seen under the nests shows that they are 

 all too successful. Vultures, crows, and large grackles should be 

 systematically shot by all wardens that guard rookeries. 



Fall. — The little blue is another of our southern herons that wanders 

 far north of its breeding range in summer and fall, from July to Oc- 

 tober. These wanderings have carried it as far as Nova Scotia, Que- 

 bec, Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. It is mainly the 

 young birds, in the white plumage, that indulge in these erratic 



