98 



BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Range. From Alberta and Ontario to the West Indies and Venezuela (except Florida in 

 breeding season). 



Range in North Carolina. Present in the whole State in summer, but absent in winter in 

 the mountain regions and to a great extent in the central portion of the State. 



The Great Blue Heron, also known as the "Blue Crane," "Old Cranky," and 

 "Long Tom," is a well-known bird throughout our State, arriving in the mountains 

 in late March, and there are well-marked signs of migration at Raleigh at the same 

 period, although the bird occurs there sparingly at all seasons. 



FIG. 63. GREAT BLUE HERON. 



With head held nearly five feet above the muddy shore on which the bird may 

 be standing, its slender neck and dagger-like bill darting down at intervals to spear 

 some luckless frog or fish, the Great Blue Heron presents a picture not easily for- 

 gotten. From the salt marshes of Dare County to the winding course of the Ten- 

 nessee River its form is a familiar one, and many and wonderful are the local beliefs 

 regarding its anatomy. One tradition holds that it possesses one straight intestine, 

 while another gives it credit of bearing a phosphorescent bunch of feathers on its 

 breast, by the light of which fish at night are lured to their destruction. Its nest 

 is a heavy mass of sticks and twigs, generally placed in tall trees in swamps or 

 along the margin of a lake. 



Twenty pairs or more breed every year about the shores of Great Lake in Craven 

 County. Pearson has also found their nests in Craven, Carteret, Onslow, and 

 Brunswick counties. A colony of about one hundred pairs have for many years 

 inhabited the tall cypress trees of the "Crane Neck" heronry on Orton Planta- 

 tion, Brunswick County. When one is passing beneath these trees the young fre- 

 quently disgorge masses of semi-digested fish, which rain down upon the intruders 

 with fearful accuracy. The eggs are usually deposited in April and May. 



