BIRDS OF THE SHORE AND MARSHES 229 



wings, whicli are ornamented with long plumes, similar 

 to those on breast, in nesting plumage only. Bend of 

 wing and thighs rusty red. Under parts dusky, tipped 

 with wiiite and rufous. Long legs and feet, black. Bill, 

 longer than head, stout, sharp, and yellow. 



Range — North America at large, from Labrador, Hudson 

 Bay, and Alaska; nesting locally through range, and 

 wintering in our Southern states, the West Indies, and 

 Central and South America. 



Season — Summer resident at the north, April to October, 

 often to December; elsewhere resident all the year. 



The Japanese artists, "on many a screen and jar, on 

 many a plaque and fan," have taught some of us the 

 aesthetic value of the heron and its allies — birds whose 

 outstretched necks, long, dangling legs, slender bodies, and 

 broad expanse of wing give a picturesque animation to our 

 own marshes. 



Standing motionless as the sphinx, with his neck drawn 

 in until his crested head rests between his angular should- 

 ers, the big, long-legged, misty-blue heron depends upon 

 his stillness and protective coloring to escape the notice of 

 his prey, and of his human foes (for he has no others). In 

 spite of his size it takes the sharpest eyes to detect him 

 as he waits in some shallow pool among the sedges along 

 the creek or river side, silently, solemnly, hour after hour, 

 for a little fish, frog, lizard, snake, or some large insect to 

 come within striking distance. With a sudden stroke of 

 his long, strong, sharp bill, he either snaps up his victim, or 

 runs it through. A fish will be tossed in the air before 

 being swallowed, head downward, that the fins may not 

 scratch his very long, slender throat. 



