AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 365 



LITTLE BLUE HERON. 



A. O. U. No. 200. (Ardea coerula.) 



RANGE. 



Southern portions of the United States; north casually to New Eng- 

 land. Breeds abundantly along the Gulf Coast. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length 24 in.; extent, 42 in.; tail 4 in. Adult (blue phase): — Gen- 

 eral color slaty blue, changing to purplish on the head and neck. Bill 

 bluish; eye yellow; legs and feet black. White Phase: — Entire plum- 

 age white with the exception of the bluish primaries and sometimes 

 traces of bluish elsewhere. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



Little Blue Herons breed in large communities in the swamps along 

 the Gulf Coast. The nest is simply a frail platform of sticks through 

 which the three or four pale bluish eggs may sometimes be plainly 

 seen. The eggs are laid during May or June. 



HABITS. 



Little Blue Herons are one of the many fishermen of the South. In 

 their general habits they are very similar to the Green Heron of the 

 North, except that they nest in larger colonies than do the Green Her- 

 ons in the North. In the isolated swamps along the Gulf they build 

 their nests in the mangroves or willows in company with Louisiana 

 Herons and the little Egrets or snowy Herons. Here if undisturbed, 

 they sit quietly all day, basking in the sun, going fishing late in the 

 afternoon and early in the morning. Their food consists almost en- 

 tirely of small fish, varied occasionally with small frogs and insects. 

 Fish they catch as do other herons by standing motionless in the water 

 until the victim comes within reach when it is caught unerringly be- 

 tween their long mandibles. Like the Reddish Egret these birds have 

 two color phases, in the white one of which they are very similar to 

 young birds of the Snowy Heron and doubtless are often mistaken as 

 such. 



