(274), 
GREEN HERON. 
ARDEA VIRESCENS, LINN. 
PLATE CCCXXXIII. Mate anp Youne. 
Tuts species is more generally known than any of our Herons, it 
being very extensively dispersed in spring, summer, and early autumn. 
It ranges along our many rivers to great distances from the sea, being 
common on the Missouri and its branches, from which it spreads to all 
such localities as are favourable to its habits. ‘Co the north of the 
United States, however, it is very seldom seen, it being of rare occur- 
rence even in Nova Scotia. At the approach of winter it retires to the 
Floridas and Lower Louisiana, where individuals, however, reside all 
the year, and many remove southward beyond the limits of our country, 
I have observed their return in early spring, when arriving in flocks 
of from twenty to fifty individuals. They would plunge downwards 
from their elevated line of march, cutting various zigzags, until they 
would all simultaneously alight on the tops of the trees or bushes of 
some swampy place, or on the borders of miry ponds. These halts 
took place pretty regularly about an hour after sun-rise. The day was 
occupied by them, as well as by some other species, especially the 
Blue, the Yellow-crowned, and Night Herons, all of which at this pe- 
riod travelled eastward, in resting, cleansing their bodies, and search- 
ing for food. When the sun approached the western horizon, they 
would at once ascend in the air, arrange their lines, and commence 
their flight, which, I have no doubt, continued all night. You may 
therefore, good Reader, conclude that Herons are not only diurnal birds 
when feeding, but also able to travel at night when the powerful im- 
pulse of migration urges them from one portion of the country to ano- 
ther. But although on their northward journey, the Green Herons 
travel in flocks, it is a curious fact, that, unlike our smaller Waders, 
Ducks, Geese, and Cranes, they usually return southward at the ap- 
proach of winter, singly or in very small flocks. 
Stagnant pools or bayous, and the margins of the most limpid streams, 
are alike resorted to by this species for the purpose of procuring food. 
It is little alarmed by the presence of man, and you may often see it 
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