THE GREAT BILUF HERON. 467 
bird of the night. When evening ialis, he goes to his accustomed hunting- 
ground with strong, sure flight. These birds do not often wait for the 
game to come to them, as is the habit of that patient fisherman, the Great 
Blue Heron, but they move about with lowered head and outstretched neck 
industriously searching for slugs, frogs, tadpoles, beetles, and their kin. 
Even field mice are sometimes caught by a rapid run and a flashing stroke. 
These little Bitterns are not guilty of any such outlandish noises as 
those produced by the “bog bull.” Their only notes are a low qua, when 
flushed or frightened, or a short hoarse croak of greeting or inquiry ; and during 
the breeding season, a subdued and labored coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, which 
proceeds, without doubt, from the male bird. 
They do not nest in colonies exactly, but a favorable stretch of tules 
cr saw-grass is likely to contain a dozen nests scattered about. At one 
of the Reservoirs during the latter part of May, I saw as many as a hundred 
birds in a day, and was all the time stumbling upon their nests. The nests 
are composed of cat-tail leaves laid flatwise, and are either built up out of the 
muck or shallow water to a height of a foot or more, or else lodged midway 
on the growing plants. In the latter case the broken-down tops of the reeds 
are used as a basis, and the shallow platform thus formed is lined with green 
leaves and sedges, or even fine sticks. "The eggs are almost equal ended, and 
are of a delicate bluish white tint. The four eggs of one set which I examined 
were disposed in a straight row, as if accommodated to the narrow and elon- 
gated breast of the bird. According to Dr. Abbott, the youngsters are scantily 
covered when hatched with a pale buffy down, interspersed with white hairs as 
long as the bird itself. They are unusually active and vivacious, and learn to 
shift for themselves much sooner than the young of the tree-nesting Herons. 
No. 210. 
; GREAT BLUE HERON. 
4 
“A. O. U. No. 194. Ardea herodias Linn. 
Synonym.—Brur Crane. 
Description.—Adult: Crown, sides of head, and throat white; occiput and 
top of head on sides glossy black, the feathers elongated into an occipital crest; 
neck pale, purplish brown; a mesial stripe in front black, white and ochraceous; 
feathers of the side of the neck in front much lengthened, whitish and purplish 
brown; breast and belly broadly streaked with black and white in about equal 
proportions ; thighs cinnamon rufous; lower tail-coverts white; above nearly uni- 
form slaty blue; the scapulars lanceolate, sometimes varied with bluish white; black 
shoulder tufts of plumulaceous feathers, arching over band of folded wing, and 
continuous with black on the sides of the breast ; wing-quills, lining of the wings, 
