SUMMER GROUP WATER BIRDS 59 



133. SMALL WHITE HERON: EGRET. 



Pure white. 



24. Bill, black ; eyes, yellow ; crest of long feathers, a 

 train of plumes from back, and lengthened feathers on 

 lower neck in breeding season ; legs, black ; eggs, 4. 



Extremely rare. 



134. LITTLE BLUE HERON. 



Dark grayish-blue. 

 24. Eyes, yellow ; head and neck, maroon ; this species 

 is sometimes pure white, then almost precisely like " small 

 white heron." 



A southern species, very rare in Northern States ; nesting, as in 

 egret. 



135. NIGHT HERON: QUA-BIRD: SQUAWK. 



Bluish-gray, dark green Whitish. 



24. Long black bill ; eye, red ; forehead, white ; crown, 

 shoulders, and interscapulars, glossy dark green ; 2 or 3 

 very long slender white plumes from hind head ; other- 

 wise, above, bluish-gray ; legs, yellow. 



Most abundant heron ; usually gregarious ; occasionally in winter ; 

 nest, high in tree ; eggs, early in June, 4-6, pale green. 



136. GREEN HERON. 



Dark green Dark brown. 



16-18. Bill, long and blackish ; crown and long plumes 

 of hind-head, glossy green, sometimes iridescent ; back, 

 slightly bluish ; neck, purplish chestnut ; white line down 

 middle of throat and breast ; legs, greenish-yellow. 



In pairs, rather than gregarious ; nest, in tree or bush ; eggs, in 

 May, 5-6, pale greenish-blue. 



