GREEN HERON. 69 



The Green Bittern begins to build about the twentieth of 

 April; sometimes in single pairs in swampy woods; often in 

 companies; and not unfrequently in a kind of association with 

 the Qua-birds, or Night Herons. The nest is fixed among the 

 branches of the trees; is constructed wholly of small sticks, lined 

 with finer twigs, and is of considerable size, though loosely put 

 together. The female lays four eggs, of the common oblong 

 form, and of a pale light blue colour. The young do not leave 

 the nest until able to fly; and for the first season, at least, are 

 destitute of the long pointed plumage on the back; the lower 

 parts are also lighter, and the white on the throat broader. Du- 

 ring the whole summer, and until late in autumn, these birds 

 are seen in our meadows and marshes, but never remain during 

 winter in any part of the United States. 



The Green Bittern is eighteen inches long, and twenty^five 

 inches in extent; bill black, lighter below, and yellow at the 

 base; chin and narrow streak down the throat yellowish white; 

 neck dark vinaceous red ; back covered with very long tapering 

 pointed feathers, of a hoary green, shafted with white, on a 

 dark green ground; the hind part of the neck is destitute of plu- 

 mage, that it may be the more conveniently drawn in over the 

 breast, but is covered with the long feathers of the throat, and 

 sides of the neck that enclose it behind; wings and tail dark 

 glossy green, tipt and bordered with yellowish white; legs and 

 feet yellow, tinged before with green, the skin of these thick 

 and moveable; belly ashy brown; irides bright orange; crested 

 head very dark glossy green. The female, as I have particular- 

 ly observed, in numerous instances, differs in nothing as to co- 

 lour from the male; neither of them receive the long feathers 

 on the back during the first season. 



There is one circumstance attending this bird, which, I re- 

 collect, at first surprised me. On shooting and wounding one, I 

 carried it some distance by the legs, which were at first yellow; 

 but on reaching home, I perceived, to my surprise, that they 

 were red. On letting the bird remain some time undisturbed, 

 they again became yellow, and I then discovered that the action 



