332 FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



Most of the herons are sociable birds, nesting and 

 feeding in large companies. In the United States their 

 breeding-grounds range from Florida through Louisiana, 

 South Carolina, and Texas. They nest also in the West 

 Indies. Herons are peculiar in that they choose to perch 

 and nest in trees, in spite of their long legs and neck, 

 and feet adapted for walking. The night heron builds 

 its nest in trees sometimes as high as thirty feet from the 

 ground. The green heron, or fly-up-the-creek as it is 

 sometimes called, will sometimes manifest enough socia- 

 bility toward the human family to build its nest in some 

 orchard tree not too far from its water haunts. The 

 herons seem always hungry; they have two interesting 

 peculiarities — patient, motionless watchfulness for some- 

 thing to eat, and an insatiable appetite; and the two fit 

 well together. 



The bitterns are solitary rather than sociable birds, 

 preferring to hunt and fly alone; even the birds when 

 paired, prefer to nest apart from their own kind, and not 

 in company with any other birds. Herons and egrets 

 often nest in one immense family, but not so the bitterns. 

 Some of the bitterns place their nests in water grasses 

 or rushes, some in bushes or trees, but always seek 

 concealment. 



The American egret ranges from Florida to Patagonia. 

 It is one of the most beautiful and at the same time one 

 of the most harmless of birds. For food, it asks nothing 

 except such fishes and snails as the swampy marshes and 

 lakes of its haunts may afford. And yet it has been one 

 of the most persecuted of birds. During the nesting 

 season, the male bird puts on an exquisite growth of long 

 white plumes covering its slender body from nape to tail 

 tip and is often hunted to the death for the sake of these 



