OREAT BLUE HERON. 93 



that I had it killed to discover the cause of its miserable condition. It 

 was an adult female that had bred that spring ; her belly was in a state of 

 mortification, and on opening her, we found the head of a fish measuring 

 several inches, which, in an undigested state, had lodged among the en- 

 trails of the poor bird. How long it had suffered could only be guessed, 

 but this undoubtedly was the cause of the miserable state in which it was 

 found. 



1 took a pair of young Herons of this species to Charleston. They 

 were nearly able to fly when caught, and were standing erect a few yards 

 from the nest, in which lay a putrid one that seemed to have been tram- 

 pled to death by the rest. They offered little resistance, but grunted 

 with a rough uncouth voice. I had them placed in a large coop, contain- 

 ing four individuals of the Ardea occidentalis, who immediately attacked 

 the new-comers in the most violent manner, so that I was obhged to turn 

 them loose on the deck. I had frequently observed the great antipathy 

 evinced by the majestic white species towards the blue in the wild state, 

 but was surprised to find it equally strong in young birds which had 

 never seen one, and were at that period smaller than the others. All 

 my endeavours to remove their dislike were unavailing, for when placed 

 in a large yard, the White Herons attacked the Blue, and kept them com- 

 pletely under. The latter became much tamer, and were more attach- 

 ed to each other. Whenever a piece of turtle was thrown to them, it was 

 dexterously caught in the air and gobbled up in an instant, and as they 

 became more famihar, they ate bits of biscuit, cheese, and even rhinds of 

 bacon. 



When wounded, the Great Blue Heron immediately prepares for de- 

 fence, and woe to the man or dog who incautiously comes within reach 

 of its powerful bill, for that instant he is sure to receive a severe wound, 

 and the risk is so much the greater that birds of this species commonly 

 aim at the eye. If beaten with a pole or long stick, they throw themselves 

 on their back, cry aloud, and strike with their bill and claws with great 

 force. I have shot some on trees, which, although quite dead, clung by 

 their claws for a considerable time before they fell. I have also seen the 

 Blue Heron giving chase to a Fish Hawk, whilst the latter was pursuing 

 its way through the air towards a place where it could feed on the fish 

 which it bore in its talons. The Heron soon overtook the Hawk, and at 

 the very first lounge made by it, the latter dropped its quarry, when the 



