GREEN HERON. 97 



GREEN HERON. 



Ardea virescens. 



Char. The smallest of the Heron family, excepting the Least Bittern. 

 Top of head and crest dark metallic green ; rest of head and neck rich 

 chestnut, sometimes with a tint of maroon ; throat with a line of white 

 with dark spots ; back dark ash, more or less tinged with green ; wings 

 and tail dark green ; under parts brownish ash. Length i6 to 20 inches. 



Nest. On the border of a swamp or near the margin of a stream, 

 placed on a branch of tree or bush ; made of small twigs loosely laid. 



Eggs. 3-6 ; bright blue of a rather pale shade, strongly tinged with 

 green; 1.50 X I.i5- 



The Green Bittern, known in many parts much better by a 

 contemptible and disgusting name, is the most common and 

 famiUar species of the genus in the United States. Early in 

 April, or as soon as the marshes are so far thawed as to afford 

 these birds the means of subsistence, they arrive in Pennsyl- 

 vania, and soon after are seen in New England, but are 

 unknown in the remote and colder parts of Canada. Many 

 winter in the swamps of the Southern States, though others 

 retire in all probability to the warmer regions of the continent, 

 as they are observed at that season in the large islands of Hayti 

 and Jamaica. 



In common with other species, whose habits are principally 

 nocturnal, the Green Bittern seeks out the gloomy retreat of 

 the woody swamp, the undrainable bog, and the sedgy marsh. 

 It is also a common hermit on the inundated, dark willow and 

 alder shaded banks of sluggish streams and brushy ponds, 

 where it not only often associates with the kindred Kwa Birds 

 and Great Herons, but frequently with the more petulant herd 

 of chattering Blackbirds. When surprised or alarmed, it rises 

 in a hurried manner, uttering a hollow guttural scream and a 

 'Kw, 'k'w, 'k'w, but does not fly far, being very sedentary ; and 

 soon alighting on some stump or tree, looks round with an 

 outstretched neck, and balancing itself for further retreat, 

 frequently jets its tail. It sometimes flies high, with neck 

 reclining and legs extended, flapping its wings and proceed- 



VOL, II. — 7 



