ARDEID.K — TIIK HERONS — OAIJZKTTA. 



31 





aiiHMij,' the red eedars of Sninmci's Jieaeh, on the coast of Cape ^^^ay. The place was 

 slii'lteied from the AtUvntic liy a iiin},'e of sand-hills, and on its land side was a fresh- 

 Uiitcr mai'sli. Tlie cedars wei'c not hij^h, luit were so closely crowded toj^ether as 

 to render it ditticult to penetratt* throngh tlieni. .^onie trees contained three, others 

 Idiir nests, built wholly of sticks. The ej,'j,'s, usually three in nund)er, measured 

 1 ,' inches l)y l.}. The birds rose, without clamor, in vast nund)ers, and alighted on 

 the t(ii>s of the trees around. Wilson adds that this Heron was seen at all tinu'.s 

 (luriiig tiie siininier among the salt marshes, searching for food, or ptissing in flocks 

 iruiu (lue jiart of the l)ay to the other. It often made excursions up tiie rivers and 

 iulets, l)tit returned regularly in the evening to tiu' cedars to roost. He also found 

 th(? siimt' species early in dunt^ on the Mississijipi as far u\) as Fort Adams, among 

 the creeks and inundated woods. 



According to Audid)on, it is a resident tiiroughout the year in Florida and in 

 Ldiiisiana. It is very sensitive to cold, and does not remain in severe weather 

 lu'ur Ciiarleston, nor return there in the spring before the liStii of March. It 

 reaches New .Jersey the first week in May. in its migrations it Hies, both by night 

 and by day, in loose flocks of from twenty to a hundred, sometinu's in lines, but 

 usually in a straggling manner. It is silent, and Hies at a height rarely more than 

 a hundred yards. Its Hight seems uiuletermined, yet is well sustained. In the 

 breeding .season it has been observed to exhibit the most singular nujvcments. now 

 and tlien tundding over and over, in the nuiniu'r of the Tumbler Pigeon. It breeds 

 ill large communities, is very social, and does not disturb such birds as seek to breed 

 in its neighborhood. Several nests tire sometimes built in the same tree, and occa- 

 sionally so low that a ])erson can easily see into them. Where it has been disturbed 

 it breeds in taller trees, but very rarely in high ones. The nest is usually over water. 

 The structure is ratiu'r snuill. is built of dry sticks, and has a shallow cavity. The 

 eggs are usually three, nu'iisuri' 1{|V inches in length, and \\ in breadtii, and are 

 broadly ellii)tical in form. Audubon .•^tates that while in the Candinas, in the month 

 of April, this bird resorts to tiu> borders of the salt-water nuirshes, and feeds prin- 

 cil)ally on shrimps. At the time the shrim])s are ascending the ^lississippi River 

 this Heron is fretpuMitly seen standing on floating logs busily engaged in ])icking 

 them up. At later periods it feeds on small fry, crabs, snails, aquatic insects, snuill 

 lizards, and young frogs. 



This Heron, more than any other kind, is what Mr. N. 15. Moore designates as a 

 scriipi'i; or rnkcr, because it uses its legs and claws to start from their hiding-places 

 such aiumals as it wishes to seize for food — namely, crawfish, tadpoles, suckers, 

 a(piatic insects, etc. In this movement it far surjjasses all other species, and man- 

 ages its legs with greater adroitness and rajjidity. On Feb. IS. 1873, he watched a 

 Hock of seventy nuiking their meal, being himself concealed within a few steps. In 

 tiie same pond were a nund)er of the i-rjri'ttd, and a few of other kinds. Scarcely one 

 of tiiis species obtained any food without raking for it. nund)ers being thus engaged 

 at the sanu> time. The use of the foot was so rajjid as to cause the whole body to 

 (piiver. The scrapers will thus work sometinu\s in water so deej) as to reach their 

 bellies, and at times in water only an inch or two deep. Each species has its own 

 lieculiar mode of managing its feet. 



On April 27, 18G7, Mr. Moore visited a heronry in Louisiana, where this species 

 and the Little Blue Heron were breeding in close proximity. He climbed to a tree- 

 top, where he could look down ujion many nests. In seventy belonging to this species 

 he found, in ten five eggs in each, in a large majority four eggs in each, while some 

 had only one egg. 



