GREEN HERON. ol 



The green bittern begins to build about the 20th of 

 April ; sometimes in single pairs, in swampy woods ;.. 

 often in companies; and not uufrequentiy 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. During 

 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 

 plumage, 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 

 movable ; belly, ashy brown ; irides, bright orange ; 

 crested head, very dark glossy green. The female, as 

 I have particularly observed, in numerous instances, 

 differs in nothing, as to colour, 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 recollect, 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. Oa 



