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GREEN HERONS are so commonly 

 seen about oui' ponds and streams that 

 the country boy is wont to know them 

 by the name "Fly-up-the-creek." As 

 they rise ahead of an approaching per- 

 son, they usually utter a single distinc- 

 tive shriek to vent their displeasure at 

 being disturbed or as a warning to tlieir 

 neighbors. 



Their food consists of tiny fish, frogs, 

 crustaceans and insects; occasionally, 

 too, one will spear a mouse or mole that 

 becomes venturesome enougli to appear 

 during the daytime. They will stand 

 for a long time in siiallow water wait- 

 ing for some creature to come witliin 

 striking distance. When standing 

 among rushes, they often attempt to 

 avoid detection by standing erect witli 

 the bill pointed upward. They resem- 

 ble their surroundings so perfectly that 

 only the sharpest of eyes wotild dis- 

 cover them. 



Their nests are platforms of sticks 

 and twigs placed in bushes or on the 

 lower branches of trees; they may or 

 may not be located near water. Their 

 four or five eggs are plain greenisli- 

 blue. 



well back and near the top of the head so they can see about 

 them even when the bill is buried to its base. 



Herons are long-legged, long-necked wading birds, 

 whose food consists chief! y of small fish, frogs, shell fish and 

 often meadow mice and insects. They stand rigidly in 

 the water for long periods waiting for some prey to come 

 within striking distance; the heavy, pointed bill, propelled 

 by the long sinuous neck rarely misses the mark, some times 

 catching it between the mandibles and again killing it by 

 a sharp blow. 



BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS feed chiefly 

 after dusk; on almost any summer night we may hear the 

 harsh, rasping "quark" of one as he passes overhead, from 

 pond to pond or carrying food to his youngsters, which are 

 located in a shabby nest of sticks high up in the grove in 

 which the colony is living. These are handsome herons — 

 grayish-white, except for the black crown and back, and 

 with a packet of three very long slender plumes growing 

 from the back of the head. Their eyes are red, while those 

 of our other herons are vellow. 



Largest of our herons are GREAT BLUE HERONS, 

 sometimes erroneouslv called "Cranes". Thev are about 



