GREAT BLUE HERON. 91 



Great Blue Heron breed there, but the White, and sometimes the Night 

 Heron, as well as the Anhinga, and to such places they return year after 

 year, unless they have been cruelly disturbed. 



The nest of the Blue Heron, in whatever situation it may be placed, 

 is large and flat, externally composed of dry sticks, and matted with 

 weeds and mosses to a considerable thickness. When the trees are large 

 and convenient, you may see several nests on the same tree. The full 

 complement of eggs which these birds lay is three, and in no instance 

 have I found more. Indeed, this is constantly the case with all the large 

 species with which I am acquainted, from Ardea ccerulea to Jrdea occi- 

 dentalis ; but the smaller species lay more as they diminish in size, the 

 Louisiana Heron having frequently four, and the Green Heron five, and 

 even sometimes six. Those of the Great Blue Heron are very smkll 

 compared with the size of the bird, measuring only two and a half inches 

 by one and seven-twelfths ; they are of a dull bluish- white, without spots, 

 rather rough, and of a regular oval form. 



The male and the female sit alternately, receiving food from each 

 other, their mutual affection being as great as it is towards their young, 

 which they provide for so abundantly, that it is not uncommon to find 

 the nest containing a quantity of fish and other food, some fresh, and 

 some in various stages of putrefaction. As the young advance they are less 

 frequently fed, although still as copiously supphed whenever opportunity 

 offers ; but now and then I have observed them, when the nests were low, 

 standing on their haunches, with their legs spread widely before them, 

 and calling for food in vain. The quantity which they require is now so 

 great that all the exertions of the old birds appear at times to be insuffi- 

 cient to satisfy their voracious appetite ; and they do not provide for 

 themselves until fully able to fly, when their parents chase them off, and 

 force them to shift as they can. They are generally in good condition 

 when they leave the nest ; but from want of experience they find it dif- 

 ficult to procure as much food as they have been accustomed to, and soon 

 become poor. Young birds from the nest afford tolerable eating ; but the 

 flesh of the old birds is by no means to my taste, nor so good as some epi- 

 cures would have us to believe, and I would at any time prefer that of a 

 Crow or young Eagle. 



The principal food of the Great Blue Heron is fish of all kinds ; but 

 it also devours frogs, lizards, snakes, and birds, as well as small quadru- 

 peds, such as shrews, meadow-mice, and young rats, all of which I have 



