146 Birds of Oregon and Washington 



white, with buffy tinge on flanks and under tail-coverts ; 

 whole breast, thickly spotted or streaked with wedge- 

 shaped markings. 



Summer resident. 



THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 



DESCRIPTION : Bill, long and sharp ; very short tail ; 

 forehead and crown, white ; black streaks on either side 

 of crown, running back they join down the neck ; back 

 and wings, blue-gray; throat, white; breast, black and 

 somewhat mottled. 



Length, 45 inches. 



Found in marshes and along rivers and by lakes. 



I cannot do better than to transcribe what 

 Mr. Frank M. Chapman has said about this 

 splendid bird and the murderous assault upon 

 him by hunters : 



"The presence of a stately Great Blue Heron 

 or ' Crane ' adds an element to the landscape 

 which no work of man can equal. Its grace of 

 form and motion, emphasized by its large size, is 

 a constant delight to the eye ; it is a symbol of 

 the wild in nature ; one never tires of watching 

 it. What punishment, then, is severe enough 

 for the man who robs his fellows of so pure a 



