104 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Genus Butorides (Blyth) 

 84. Butorides virescens virescens (Linn.}. GREEN HERON. 



Ads.-^ Crown and a short line below eye glossy greenish black; throat buffy white, this color 

 extending down foreneck as a narrow line mixed with blackish, widening on breast; rest of 

 head and neck rufous-chestnut glossed with vinaceous; back, with lengthened inter-scapulars, 

 green, more or less washed with bluish gray; wing-coverts green, margined with white or buffy; 

 belly ashy gray, more or less washed with buffy. 1m. Similar, but with neck and underparts 

 streaked with blackish; back without lengthened feathers or wash of blue-gray; wing-coverts 

 widely margined with buffv ochraceous. L., 17.00; W., 7.25; Tar., 1.90; B., 2.50. (Chap., 

 Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. North America, breeding from southern Canada to the West Indies; winters from 

 the West Indies southwards and rarely in the United States. 



Range in North Carolina. -Whole State in summer, arriving in late March or early April 

 and staying till early October. 



The Green Heron, also known as "Scow," "Shypoke," "Scout," " Indian Hen/' 

 and "Fly-up-the Creek/' is the smallest of the true herons, and is familiar to most 

 farm-boys of the State. Mill-ponds and the banks of rivers and creeks are its 



FIG. 68. GREEN HERON. 



favorite haunts. It wades cautiously through the shallow water looking for frogs, 

 fish, salamanders, or other small aquatic life upon which it preys. When alarmed, 

 the startled " squawks" it emits recall to the mind of many a man his early swim- 

 ming or fishing experiences. The Green Heron's nest is characteristic of those 

 of the family, being a slight affair built loosely of twigs. Frequently it is placed in 

 a bush or tree growing in the water, but more often, perhaps, the tree selected is 

 on land; sometimes it nests in oak, apple, or other trees, a mile or more from the 

 nearest feeding place. 



On April 15, 1898, Pearson found three of its nests near Lake Landing in Hyde 

 County, which were placed on the horizontal limbs of cedar trees about fifteen feet 

 from the ground. They were made entirely of cedar twigs and were so frail that 

 the five blue eggs in one could be counted through the nest from below. Green 

 Herons appear to be common summer residents throughout the State. 



