18 



ALTKICIAL GIIALLATUUES — HEKODIONES. 



i 





II 



of the beach. In its habits it is (liumal as wi-U as nocturnal. It may bo observid 

 by (lay wadiuf,' out on the shoals, collecting (ii-abs and various species of shell-fisli. 

 and at other times standinj,' in the water up to its knees, witii its hill poised ready to 

 strike its prey. It is then especially shy, intently observing,' everything' that is pii>.s- 

 ing within a wide circle. Yet even this bird, vij,'ilant as it is, nuiy be enticed iiy 

 decoys within gunshot; and by mauy its tiesh is very highly esteemed. 



It will venture even more fearlessly forth at night in (juest of food, always stand- 

 ing in the same motionless po.sture, with bill ready ii,)ised for the coming of its jtrcv. 

 While in this position its plumage is parted, exposing a portion of the breast, whiili 

 is .said to be furnished with a downy s\distance emitting a i)hos))horeseent light, i'.y 

 some this is called the bird's lantern, and is said to be serviceable to it while tishini,', 

 both by attracting its prey, and by showing it where to strike. Even in dead sjhi i- 

 mens this luminous substance is said to give out a pale glow, not unlike that i)roducc(l 

 by decaying wood. 



This Heron was nu>t with by Mr. J. A. Allen in September, in the Valley of 

 Great Salt Lake, where it w.as (piite common. Mr. Kidgway also found it an abun- 

 dant species in the wooded valley of the Truckee River, and breeding in nund)ers im 

 all the rocky islands in i'yramid Lake. Several of its nests, containing from three to 

 four young each, were found on the large island. These were very bulky, but well 

 made, composed of sticks, ami jjlaccd on the tops of the greasewood bushes (O/iiomj, 

 about live feet from the ground. Those on the '* I'yramid" were placed among tiic 

 rocks, at varying heights above the water. Among the marshes around (treat Salt 

 Lake, and in the txhi lagoons near Sacramento, he also found it abundant. 



Wilson fcmnd this Meron breeding in tlu^ gloomy solitudes of the tallest cedar- 

 swamps in the lower parts of New Jersey, where, if uiulisturbed, it continues many 

 years in succession. The young are hatched about the middle of May, and are unable 

 to fly until they are as large as their i)arents. It breeds l)ut once in a season. Tlic 

 noise which this Heron makes when disturlx'd in its breeding-place is said sometimes 

 to resemble the honking of a goose ; at other times it is a hoarse, hollow grunting 

 sound, like that of a hog, but louder. 



Like the common Heron of Eurojx', which it closely resenddes in many otlicr 

 respects, this bird is of solitary habit, excepting during the breeding season, going in 

 pairs only from March to August; the rest of the year leading a solitary life. I-'u- 

 rious battles are said to take place between the males at the beginning of the 

 pairing season. 



Mr. X. 15. Moore has supplied some very interesting observations upon the habits 

 of this species, tracing the history of a pair from the first labor of making a nest, 

 through the periods of egg-laying, incubation, and rearing their young. They were 

 observed at the nest with a field-glass, and were first seen Feb. o. One was carrying 

 sticks to a certain willow growing in a pond. The other was standing in a part of 

 the tree near the toj), or fifteen feet from the mud below. This was the female, and 

 a few sticks were jilaced near her. The sticks, broken from the blasted Avillow-to]is, 

 were brought by the male. He generally alighted with them a little higher than 

 she. The latter reached up her bill, took them, and placed them on the pile, each in 

 its proper place. The work was so carried on to its completion — the male acting as 

 procurer of materials, his mate as architect. During these labors, the female seems 

 by far the more impatient to advance the business. She takes the stick from him and 

 lays it in its place ; and if he stops, and seems loath to leave her side, she motions him 

 to leave, though no sound is heard, and away he goes for another stick. The sticks 

 were carried, not across the bill, but pointing out before it, in a line with it. Neither 



