BIRDS OF KANSAS 135 



XLVL GREEN HERON. 



Ardea, virescens (Lrxisr.). 



Summer resident ; abundant. Arrive about the middle 

 of April; begin laying about the first of May; remain 

 until late in the fall. 



HABITAT. The whole of temperate North America, 

 West Indies, Bermudas ; north into Maine, Dakota and 

 Oregon; south into Venezuela and Colombia, South 

 America. 



This widely-distributed and common species is a sum- 

 mer resident, in suitable localities, throughout the north- 

 ern portion of the Union; wintering in the Southern 

 States and southward, where it also breeds. A graceful 

 little beauty, but for some unknown reason is in bad repute, 

 hooted at and stoned by the boys and called bad names; 

 it may be because it destroys daily many of the finny 

 tribe, but in this respect does not differ from the family 

 of which it is one of the least, and not near as destructive 

 at the artificial fish ponds as the Night Heron, that during 

 the night visits with noiseless wing the ponds and foun- 

 tains in the very heart of the city, where it feeds undis- 

 turbed, and as silently wings itself away. 



These birds are not shy, and, where not persecuted, very 

 easily approached. Their feeding habits are similar to 

 those of the Great Blue, but more strictly a nocturnal 

 bird; seldom found in large flocks, and, though found 

 breeding in rookeries, the mated pair as a rule prefer to 

 nest alone. 



Their nests are placed on the branches of trees and 

 bushes skirting streams and ponds, and are loosely made 



