Birds of Canada. 73 
Orver V.—Ole Waters. 
SUB-ORDER HERODIONES. 
FAMILY ARDEIDA, THE HERONS. 
Ardea herodias —The Great Blue Heron. 
The Great Blue Heron is a regular summer 
visitor in Canada. It usually arrives here about 
the twentieth of April, and remains until the 
tenth or fifteenth of October, when it leaves for 
the south. The general color of this heron is a 
delicate gray; throat and neck white, with 
patches of dark bluish-gray ; a black line over 
the eye; a pendant tuft at the junction of the 
neck and breast ; a long plume of a bluish-black 
color. This bird is extremely shy, and is ap- 
proached with difficulty. It frequents marshes 
and the borders of lakes and rivers, and feeds 
upon reptiles and fishes. When standing erect 
the Great Blue Heron will measure from four 
and a-half to five feet ; its beak is seven to eight 
inches in length, very strong, and can be used 
with terrible force as an offensive weapon. ‘The 
nest of this bird is usually built in the top of a 
large tree ; eggs, four or five, of a pale green color. 
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