260 



ORDERS OF BIRDS— HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES 



do not have. It is never seen away from water- 

 courses, and, it may be added, in warm weather 

 no river-scene is truly complete and perfect 

 without one! 



When seen with closed wings, its upper neck 

 and body are of a bluish-slate color, and its 

 under surfaces are white, streaked up and down 

 with black. In the North, this bird is shy, and 

 afraid of being shot at; but in the tropics, 

 where they are not persecuted, I have some- 



GREAT BLUE HERON. 



times approached within thirty feet of full- 

 grown birds without alarming them. 



The range of this bird is from the arctic 

 regions southward wherever the conditions of 

 water, timber and food are suitable, to the West 

 Indies and South America; but there are many 

 arid and treeless regions from which it is totally 

 absent. 



The Little Green Heron, or "Fly-up-the- 

 Creek," 1 is found throughout the well-watered 

 regions of the United States, wherever timber 



1 Bu-tor'i-des vi-res'cens. Average length, about 

 18 inches. 



is plentiful. In many localities of the Middle 

 West and the Mississippi valley from which the 

 great blue heron is now absent, this is the only 

 heron to be found; and away from the Atlantic 

 coast it is the most familiar member of its 

 Order. 



Its body is about as large' as that of a sparrow- 

 hawk, and when in a crouching attitude it is a 

 very proper-looking bird. With its neck 

 stretched, however, and its head held high, the 

 body seems much too small, and 

 the neck makes the bird seem top- 

 heavy. Start it off in flight, 

 however, and it is one of the 

 most ill-fitting herons that ever 

 took wing. It is so angular and 

 loose-jointed it seems ready to fall 

 to pieces, and its flight is slow 

 and feeble. The prevailing color 

 of its plumage is a beautiful me- 

 tallic green, but the flat shape 

 of its neck, and the peculiar set 

 of the feathers thereon have 

 caused many young taxider- 

 mists some very sad hours. 



The food of the Green Heron 

 consists of minnows, small frogs, 

 tadpoles and insects. 



The Little Blue Heron- is yet 

 fairly abundant in Florida, be- 

 cause it bears no fatal "plumes." 

 In summer, this species some- 

 times wanders northward as 

 far as Illinois and Maine. One 

 striking peculiarity of its plu- 

 mage is worthy of special men- 

 tion. Until one year old, the 

 voung birds are snow-white, and 

 look precisely like young snowy egrets which 

 are of corresponding size and form. Sometimes 

 it is a matter of difficulty to convince a per- 

 son that a snow-white bird is a Little Blue 

 Heron, in its first year. But the moulting 

 finally tells the story. First the plumage is 

 flecked with blue, then it is half blue, and at 

 last the solid blue color prevails. It seems to 

 me that in clothing young and inexperienced 

 birds in snow-white robes, which attract all 

 eyes to them, Nature forgot all about "protec- 

 tive coloration!" 

 2 Ar-de'a cae-ru'lc-a. Average length, 24.50 inches. 



New York Zoological Park 



