NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 185 



Migration. — Although the little blue heron remains in winter 

 throughout most of the breeding range, most of the birds withdraw 

 from the northern areas. They have been observed to arrive at New 

 Orleans, Louisiana, on March 11 (1894) ; at Andrews, North Carolina 

 on April 4; at Beulahville, Virginia, on April 14 (1912) ; and at Miller, 

 Virginia, on May 12 (1917). 



Casual records. — Like the egrets and some other herons, this spe- 

 cies has a habit of wandering far north of its normal breeding range, 

 although in the present instance, this is done not only after the nest- 

 ing season but also before. This is particularly true of the birds in 

 the white plumage which are frequently mistaken for the snowy egret 

 and the opposite. There are several spring and fall records of httle 

 blue herons in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, 

 and Massachusetts, and others north to Vermont (Newbury, August 

 16, 1912); New Hampshire (Amherst, April 28, 1897); Maine (Scar- 

 borough, September, 1881, Vinalhaven, April 1, 1902, Popham Beach, 

 May 19, 1901, and Whitneyville, August 16, 1906); Quebec (Quebec, 

 October, 1881 and Lance au Loup, May 23, 1900); and Nova Scotia 

 (Lawrencetown, March 18, 1896). In the Mississippi Valley and con- 

 tiguous territory the species has been many times detected in Iowa, 

 Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, with records of occurrence extending north 

 to Michigan (Detroit, May 2, 1882); Ontario (Point Pelee, Septem- 

 ber, 1904, and Aylmer, August 15, 1901); Wisconsin (Lake Koshko- 

 nong, and Racine County, August 28, 1848); and Manitoba 

 (Winnipeg, May 11, 1905). Farther west it has occurred north to 

 Oklahoma (Redrock, summer of 1884, Copan, July 16 to August 2, 

 1906, and Ponca, April 7-10, 1918); Kansas (Winfield, May 2 and 

 October 5, 1902, Wichita, May 2, 1917, Elmdale, April 18-26, 1916, 

 and Manhattan, April 27-30, 1915); and Nebraska (Nebraska City, 

 September, 11, 1900, Omaha, June 15, 1897, and August 15, 1903, and 

 Butler County). The Colorado record for this species really refers 

 to the snowy egret, Egretta c. candidissima. 



Egg dates. — Florida: 89 records, December 27 to June 3; 45 records, 

 April 1 to 25. Louisiana: 11 records, April 7 to May 16. 



BUTORIDES VIRESCENS VIRESCENS (Linnaeus) 



GREEN HERON 



HABITS 



Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend 



Familiarity with the habits of this well-known little heron explains 

 its common or vulgar names such as "fly-up-the-creek," "chalk- 

 line," "shite-poke; " and "skeow." These names are of long standing 

 and very expressive, for the bird is a familiar one to the country bo}^ 

 and to the fisherman by stream or pond, where the tameness or stu- 

 pidity^ of this bird often brings it within close range. 



