186 BULLETIN 135; UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Spring. — The migratory flights of the green heron are generally 

 made at night and are described by Audubon (1840) with his usual 

 picturesqueness. Ho says: 



I have observed their return in early spring, when arriving in flocks of from 20 

 to 50 individuals. They would plunge downwards from their elevated line of 

 march, cutting various zigzags, until they would all simultaneously alight on the 

 tops of the trees or bushes of some swampy place, or on the borders of miry 

 ponds. These halts took place pretty regularly about an hour after sunrise. 

 The day was occupied by them, as well as by some other species especially the 

 blue, the yellow-crowned, and night herons, all of which at this period traveled 

 eastward, in resting, cleansing their bodies, and searching for food. When the 

 sun approached the western horizon, they would at once ascend in the air, 

 arrange their lines and commence their flight, which I have no doubt continued 

 all night. 



The chance to see such a flight is, however, rare. Generally on a 

 day in early spring one discovers at the pond or stream margin the 

 famihar bird that has been absent all the winter months and has 

 arrived unseen in the night. 



Courtship. — Audubon (1840) says; 



During the love season they exhibit many curious gestures, erecting all the 

 feathers of their neck, swelling their throat, and uttering a rough guttural note 

 like qua, qua, several times repeated by the male as he struts before the female. 



Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock (1906) describes the dance or "hornpipe 

 of a solitary green heron" in June, "although," as she says, "possi- 

 bly his mate may have been an unseen witness. Backward 

 and forward, with queer little hops, he pranced first on one foot 

 and then on the other. * * * The effect is as ludicrous as 

 though a long legged, dignified D. D. were to pause in his learned dis- 

 course and execute a double shufile." 



Nesting. — The green heron nests singly or in colonies. Although 

 it generally prefers for its nesting locality a region close to the water, 

 it may choose dry woods or an orchard in the midst of cultivated 

 ground. The height of the nest is also very variable, and although 

 most nests are placed from 10 to 20 feet from the ground, they may 

 be found in the tops of high trees, or, on the other hand, on low 

 bushes or even on the ground. Hatch (1892) says: "Instances have 

 occurred under my observation, where in the entire absence of trees 

 or bushes of any size, they have placed the nest, composed of coarse 

 dry weeds and reeds and cat-tails, on a tussock in a reed- 

 hidden quagmire." And he mentions one that was built on the top 

 of a muskrat house. Maynard (1896) says that in Florida, "among 

 the keys, they often place their domiciles on the roots of the man- 

 groves, frequently not over 6 inches above high-water mark," W. J. 

 Erichsen (1921) in his observations in Chatham County, Georgia, says: 



These birds breed in considerable numbers on Sylvans Island on the Herb River, 

 some 3 miles from the town of Thunderbolt, placing their nests in the extreme 



