CHAPTER XXVI. 



NOTES ON OUK HERONS. 



IF those who are fond of watching the habits of our 

 many birds should happily have ready access to a consid- 

 erable expanse of meadow, with here and there a clump of 

 trees, and with a creek meandering through it, or can 

 wander along a goodly stretch of heavily wooded river- 

 shore, they will doubtless have abundant opportunities of 

 studying the habits of a class of birds that have ever been 

 to me the most interesting of all. 



Being so different from all the others, both in ap- 

 pearance and behavior, and forming, as they do, a promi- 

 nent feature in the landscape that brings us into closest 

 communion with " untamed nature," these birds, known 

 collectively as the herons or Ardeidce, offer an exhaustless 

 fund of instruction to the field naturalist. 



In the vicinity of my home I have noted, during rny 

 rambles, the great blue heron, the great white, the snowy 

 egret, the little blue, the green, the two night-herons, and 

 both the bitterns. 



The first mentioned of this goodly list is now by no 

 means abundant, and the white egrets are seen even less 

 frequently. The smaller blue heron seems quite indiffer- 

 ent to temperature, and single specimens are often met 

 with in winter, associated with the very common night- 

 heron, which latter is at times a winter resident, though 



