HERONS AND BITTERNS. 



133 



Xeft, a platform of Btu'ks. t'ciiorully iti colonicH, in trees. F(jfff, three to 

 four, i>ulc, dull l)lue, ii'.V) x \-:>i). 



Is it due to the influejico of ihe nrtists of the Orient that these 

 long-legged, long-necked birds are so fre»{Ueiitly nnsealled " Cranes "t 

 With head drawn in and legs trailing on behind, they flap slowly over 

 the water, resembling, no doubt, the "Oranes" of fans, screens, and 

 bronzes; nevertheless, they are Herons. With all a Heron's ininiovablo 

 alertness they watch patiently for passing fish, sometimes wading with 

 extreme caution, placing one foot slowly after the other. They feed 

 both by day and night. Fishes, frogs, reptiles, even small mi»;e, all 

 arc welcome ; and all are powerless to escape the lightning thnist of 

 the spearlike bill. Their voice is harsh and rasping. When alarned 

 they ntter a croak which is sometimes prolonged intoaseriesof ,sY/«a/.''Aa. 

 They nest and roost in colonies, but at other times are solitary birdb, 



The KiRf>PKAN (lUKAT Bi.iK IIkuov ( lf)5. Ardrd ciiitrca) is aeeidontal in 

 southern (Ireenlanil. It iiuiy he distinguished iVoiii our species \>y the whito 

 instead "•'"ufous feathers ou the legs. 



19tf« Ardea egretta Umel. American EdKET. Ad. in hreeding 

 jdumaiji'. — Entire j)luiiia;,'e jmre white; about tifty a//v//;///^ ''aijrrctte" i)luiiies 

 grow I'roiu the iiitei"seapular rejxion and reueli beyond the tail ; legs and feet 

 black ; bill yellow ; lores orange, bonlered below by greenish. Ad. after the 

 hi'i'fdiiKj stdson. (tint Ii)i. — Without the interscapular plumes. L., 41'00; W., 

 15-00 ; Tar., r)-r)0 ; H., 4-r>0. 



Jiantje. — Tropical and temperate America ; breeds as far north as southern 

 Illinois and Virginia; after the breeding season Mometimes strays northward 

 as tar as Manitoba, (Quebec, and New Brunswick. 



■Washington, not conuuon and irregular S. K., May to August. Long 

 Island, rare from July to Sept. Sing Sing, A. V. 



J\'est, V. j)latform of sticks, in colonies, in hushes over water. J'-''J<!». three 

 to five, dull blue, of u ratht^r deeper shade than those of the preceding, 

 2-25 X 1-GO. 



Tourists who went to Florida thirty years ago have told me of 

 prairies white with Egrets, of bushy islands glistening in the sun like 

 snow banks. Now you may look for miles along a lake shore and per- 

 haps in the distance see a solitary Egret, which, as yon approach, with 

 a frightened s(2uaH'/c takes wing a rifle-shot away. The rai)id exter- 

 mination of these plume-bearing birds is startling evidence of man's 

 power in the animal world. At his word a species is almost imme- 

 diately wiped out of existence. I have heard a " plume-hunter" boast 

 of killing three hundred Herons in a "rookery" in one afternoon. 

 Another proudly stated that he and his companions had killed uno 

 hundred and thirty thousand birds — Herons, Egrets, and Terns — dur- 

 ing one winter. IJut the destruction of these birds is an unpleasant 



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