1913 BIRDS OF THE FRESNO DISTRICT 



21 



Least Bittern. Ixobrychus exilis (Gmelin). 



So far as I have been able to learn this little Bittern is not at all common, 

 even in the swampy areas. Few people seem to know it. Perhaps its habit of 

 keeping concealed accounts for its apparent rarity, in some measure, at least. 

 The author saw a single individual near Wheatville the first week in May, 1900. 

 Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias herodias Linnaeus. 

 Probably no other bird in central California receives the attention from 

 a disinterested public that this splendid species does. Known to nearly everyone 

 as "Crane," "Blue Crane," "Gopher Crane," or "Fish Crane," it seems fortu- 

 nate that the impression prevails everywhere to the effect that this bird is strictly 

 protected, and that to kill one would be about on a par with shooting a Turkey 

 Vulture. If it were not for this fact the herons would have long ago disappeared 

 from the valley. 



The farmers of this county should do all in their power to afford protection to 

 the Blue Heron, as it is one of the best gopher destroyers in existence. It is no 

 uncommon sight to see a heron standing motionless for hours at a time in an 

 alfalfa field waiting for a gopher to make its appearance. Small fish, frogs, and 

 probably lizards, if they are obtainable, are eaten, and on many occasions herons 

 have been observed in pairs on the dry barren hillsides along the San Joaquin 

 River busily engaged in catching grasshoppers. Ability to adapt itself to chang- 

 mg conditions and a varied diet has caused this bird to become widely diffused 

 throughout the valley, and has, no doubt, assisted materially in preserving the 

 species. 



Great Blue Herons formerly nested, and probably still do, in some large 

 sycamores near the river below Friant. Mr. Chas. E. Jenney reports two sets of 

 eggs, numbering four and five respectively, taken on March 31 several vears ago. 

 Rumors have come to me of a large present-day colony that nests in a grove of 

 eucalyptus trees rather indefinitely located as "north of Raisin City," but the 

 exact location seems to be unknown 



April 12, 1902, the author found a colony of nine pairs occupying a large 

 lone Cottonwood that stood on the bank of Fish Slough near New Hope. At 

 least three of the nests contained sets of four and five eggs each, all far advanced 

 in incubation, while three other nests held small young. Of the contents of the 

 three remaining nests nothing certain could be learned, as they were almost in- 

 accessible. All these nests were large, well-hollowed platforms stronglv built of 

 sticks and placed from forty to sixty feet above the ground. 



Whether standing in solitary dignity in some shallow slough spearing for 

 pollywogs, or settling in large numbers knee-deep in the overflowed fields where 

 he has but to pick up of the abundance of food all about him. the Great Blue 

 Heron is one of the most imposing and attractive sights of the bird life in Fresno 

 County. 



Anthony Green Heron. Butorides virescens anthonyi (Mearns). 



The Green Heron is a common migrant throughout the valley, wherever suit- 

 able conditions exist. It has been observed along the flume ponds well up into 

 the foothills east of Clovis, among the willows that border the San Joaquin 

 River north of Fresno, and along many of the ditches near the city; while the 



