The Great Blue Heron 8^ 



Blue Heron varies according to the latitude, from the begin- 

 ning of March to the middle of June. In Florida It takes 

 place about the first of these periods, in the middle States 

 about the 15th of May, and In Maine a month later. 



It is at the approach of this period only that these birds 

 associate in pairs, they being generally quite solitary at all 

 other times. Except during the nesting season each individual 

 seems to secure for Itself a certain district as a feeding ground, 

 giving chase to every intruder of its own species. At such 

 times they also repose singly, for the most part roosting on 

 trees, although sometimes taking their station on the ground 

 in the midst of a wide marsh, so that they may be secure from 

 the approach of man. This unsocial temper probably arises 

 from the desire of securing a certain abundance of food, of 

 which each bird requires a large quantity. 



The nest of the Blue Heron 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 con- 

 venient you may see several nests on the same tree. Three 

 eggs are laid in the nest. They are very small compared with 

 the size of the bird, measuring only two and a half by one and 

 a half inches. They are of a dull bluish white color, without 

 spots, and of a regular oval form. 



The male and female sit alternately, receiving food from 

 each other, their mutual affection being as great as It is 

 toward their young, which are provided for so abundantly 

 that It Is not uncommon to find the nest containing a surplus 

 of fish and other food. 



As the young grow older they are less frequently fed, 

 although still as copiously supplied whenever opportunity 

 offers. But now and then I have observed them, when the 

 nests were low, calling for food in vain. The quantity which 



