78 Birds of Canada. 



the twentieth of April, and remains until the 

 tenth or fifteenth of October, when it leaves for 

 the south. The general color of this heron is a 

 delicate gray ; throat and neck, white, with 

 patches of dark bluish-gray ; a black line over 

 the eye; a pendant tuft at the junction of the 

 neck and breast ; a long plume of a bluish-black 

 color. This bird is extremely shy, and is ap- 

 proached with difficulty. It frequents marshes 

 and the borders of lakes and rivers, and feeds 

 upon reptiles and fishes. When standing erect 

 the Great Blue Heron will measure from four 

 and a-half to five feet ; its beak is seven to eight 

 inches in length, very strong, and can be used 

 with terrible force as an offensive weapon. The 

 nest of this bird is usually built in the top of a 

 large tree ; eggs, four or five, of a pale green 

 color. 



Ardetta exilis. The Least Bittern. 



This bird is a frequent summer visitor to the 

 marsh, east of Toronto. It is solitary and noc- 

 turnal in its habits. General color, dark green, 

 above, and purplish-brown on the sides and 

 underneath. Length, thirteen inches; wing, four 

 and a-half inches. Nests, in low bushes on the 

 margin of ponds or marshes ; eggs, four in num- 

 ber, of a greenish-yellow color. Feeds upon 

 small reptiles and fish. 



