NORTH AMEKICAN MARSH BIRDS 195 



BUTORIDES VIRESCENS ANTHONYI (Mearas) 

 ANTHONY GREEN HERON 



HABITS 



This is the large, pale race of the green heron which inhabits Cali- 

 fornia and the arid regions of the Southwest. It was described by 

 Dr. Edgar A. Mearns (1895) from specimens collected by him in the 

 Colorado Valley, near the Mexican boundary, and named in honor 

 of A. W. Anthony. It is described as similar to the green heron "of 

 the eastern United States, but slightly larger, and paler throughout, 

 with the light markings of the wings, neck and throat much less 

 restricted, and whiter." It is not nearly so abundant anywhere as 

 our eastern bird is in many places, and is restricted to comparatively 

 few favorable localities, particularly the irrigated valleys. 



Nesting. — In the arid, desert regions of Arizona, water birds are 

 scarce, but many species of ducks visit the lakes and irrigation reser- 

 voirs on their migrations and shorebirds of various kinds are fre- 

 quently seen along the river beds, where in the dry season the water 

 is restricted to a narrow shallow stream meandering through broad 

 expanses of mud or sand flats. Here too an occasional heron may 

 be seen flapping lazily along searching for some pool deep enough to 

 contain a few fish. In the well irrigated valley of the San Pedro 

 River, where numerous ranches have cultivated and watered land, . 

 conditions are markedly different. Every ranch has its reservoirs, 

 driven wells, and system of irrigating ditches, which have produced 

 abundant crops and fertile conditions. Along the banks of the ditches 

 vegetation is luxuriant, with large wiUows and Cottonwood trees and 

 often with a dense undergrowth of shrubbery and vines. On May 

 27, 1922, we were wandering along one of these irrigation ditches, 

 exploring the thickets of small willows and wild gooseberry bushes, 

 and looking for nests of Sonora redwings, Abert towhees and other 

 small birds, when we sa\^ the familiar figure of a green heron watch- 

 ing us from a tree top. Pushing on through the thick tangle of 

 underbrush we soon found its nest, about 12 feet up in a slender 

 willow. It was a typical green heron's nest, no different from those 

 of our eastern birds, made of small sticks and lined with finer twigs. 

 It held five fresh eggs. My companion, Frank C. Willard, was not 

 surprised, for he had often found nests of the Anthony green heron 

 along this and other similar ditches in the San Pedro Valley, where 

 it finds a congenial home together with a host of small birds not 

 found in the arid regions. 



In other portions of its breeding range the nesting habits of this 

 little heron are generally similar to those of its eastern relative, but 

 sometimes it builds its nest at rather high elevations. John G. Tyler 



