CHAPTER XII. 



March 12 March 18. 



THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 



Order Herodiones Suborder Herodii 



Family Ardeidse Subfamily Ardeinae 



Genus Ardea Species Ardea herodias 



Length About 42.00 to 50.00; wing, 17.90 to 19.85. 

 Migration North, March ; south, October. 



"Grotesque and tall he stands erect 

 Where the reed-ripple swirls and gleams. 



Grave, melancholy, circumspect, 

 A hermit of the streams." 



The family Ardeidse is composed of the bitterns and 

 herons, and has in it about seventy-five species, members of 

 which are found in all parts of the world, but most frequently 

 in the torrid and temperate zones. The family is divided into 

 two sub-families, namely: (1) Botaurinse, composed of the 

 bitterns, and, (2) Ardeinse, composed of the herons. Of the 

 herons there are nine species in the Middle West, and of these 

 the Great Blue Heron is, perhaps, the most distinguished 

 member. 



In his Key to North American Birds, Mr. Elliott Coues 

 says : "It is in this family that powder-down tracts reach their 

 highest development ; and although these peculiar feathers oc- 

 cur in some other birds, there appears to be then only a single 

 pair; so that the presence of two or more pairs is probably 



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