98 



BiKDS OF North Carolina 





Range. — From Alberta and Ontario to the West Indies and Venezuela (except Florida in 

 breeding season). 



Range in North Carolina. — -Present in the whole State in summer, but absent in winter in 

 the mountain regions and to a great extent in tlie central portion of the State. 



The Great Blue Heron, also known as tlio "Blue Crane," "Old Cranky," and 

 "Long Tom," is a well-kno\\Ti bird throughout our State, arriving in the mountains 

 in late March, and there are well-marked signs of migration at lialeigh at the same 

 period, although the bird occurs there sparingly at all seasons. 



Pia. 63. Gre.vt Bue HinuiN. 



With head held nearly five feet above tlic muddy shore ou which the l)ird may 

 be standing, its slender neck and dagger-like bill (hutiufi down at intervals to spear 

 some luckless frog or fish, the Great Blue Heron inesents a i)icture not easily for- 

 gotten. From the salt marshes of Dare Coimty to the winding course of the Ten- 

 nessee River its form is a familiar on(>, and many and wonderful are the local beliefs 

 regarding its anatomy. One tradition holds that it i)ossesses one straight intestine, 

 while another gives it cretlit of bearing a phosphorescent bimch of feathers on its 

 breast, by the light of which fish at night are lured to their destruction. Its nest 

 is a heavy mass of sticks and twigs, generally i)hicc(l in tall trees in swamps or 

 along the margin of a lake. 



Twenty pairs or more breed every year about the shores of Great Lake in Craven 

 County. Pearson has also found their nests in Craven, Carteret, Onslow, and 

 Brunswick counties. A colony of about one hundred pairs have for numy years 

 inhabited the tall cypress trees of the "Crane Neck" heronry on Orton Planta- 

 tion, Bruns\vick County. When one is passing beneath these trees the young fre- 

 quently disgorge masses of semi-digested fish, which rain down upon the intruders 

 with fearful accuracy. The eggs are usually deposited hi April and May. 



