THE GREEN HERON. 407 



DESCRIPTION. 



" 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, tipped 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. 



" The crested head very dark glossy green. The female, as I have particularly 

 observed in numerous instances, differs in nothing, as to color, from the male; 

 neither of them receive the long feathers on the back during the first season." 

 WILSON. 



The above description of this beautiful bird is so* compre- 

 hensive and accurate, that I cannot do better than to pre- 

 sent it in this volume ; and the account of this bird's habits, 

 by the same author, is so interesting and full, that, being 

 unable to add to it any thing of value, I give it as below : 



" The Green Bittern makes its first appearance in Pennsylvania 

 early in April, soon after the marshes are completely thawed. 

 There, among the stagnant ditches with which they are intersected, 

 and amidst the bogs and quagmires, he hunts with great cunning 

 and dexterity. Frogs and small fish are his principal game, whose 

 caution and facility of escape require nice address and rapidity of 

 attack. When on the lookout for small fish, he stands in the water, 

 by the side of the ditch, silent and motionless as a statute ; his 

 neck drawn in over his breast, ready for action. The instant a fry 

 or minnow comes within the range of his bill, by a stroke, quick 

 and sure as that of the rattlesnake, he seizes his prey, and swallows 

 it in an instant. He searches for small crabs, and for the various 

 worms and larvae, particularly those of the dragon-fly, which lurk 

 in the mud, with equal adroitness. But the capturing of frogs 

 requires much nicer management. These wary reptiles shrink into 

 the mire on the least alarm, and do not raise up their heads again 

 to the surface without the most cautious circumspection. The Bit- 

 tern, fixing his penetrating eye on the spot where they disappeared, 

 approaches with slow, stealing step, laying his feet so gently and 

 silently on the ground as not to be heard or felt ; and, when arrived 

 within reach, stands fixed, and bending forwards, until the first 



