Great Blue Heron 83 
Distribution.—From Alaska and Labrador south through the West 
Indies and Central America to Venezuela; a summer resident only, 
north of the middle states ; south of this, a resident. 
The Great Blue Heron is found throughout Colorado on migration 
and breeds in suitable localities, chiefly in the north-eastern part of the 
State, but also in the mountain parks up to about 8,000 feot. It 
arrives from the south about the second week of April. Frey saw 
one at Salida as early as March 30th. 
It has been observed nesting on the Cache la Poudre Creek near 
Fort Collins (Cooke), at Windsor (Hall), on Crow Creek, north-west 
of Greeley (Markman), on the St. Vrain near Lyons, in Boulder co. 
(Henderson), near Barr (Rockwell & Hersey), in Middle Park by 
Carter, and in Wet Mountain Valley at about 8,000 feet, by Baker 
(Cooke). In Mesa co. on the western slope it appears to be common 
up to 9,000 feet, but has not been found breeding ; while Aiken observed 
it on one occasion as late as November 27th near Divide in Teller co., 
at about 9,000 feet. 
Habits.—This large Heron, often mis-called the “ Blue 
Crane,” is chiefly met with along the larger rivers and 
lakes; here it can often be seen standing motionless 
in the shallows, in a somewhat stilted attitude, watching 
intently for small fishes or frogs, which it quickly 
snaps up. The flight though powerful is rather heavy 
and leisurely, the neck crooked and the head drawn 
back between the shoulders and the legs stretched out 
behind. They are solitary birds, except during the 
breeding season, when they generally nest im commu- 
nities, called heronries. The nest is usually placed in 
high trees, but sometimes in bushes or on the ground or 
among the rocks. In Colorado the higher cotton-woods 
along the rivers and creeks are usually chosen. 
A set of four eggs of this Heron was presented to the 
Colorado College Museum by I. C. Hall. They were 
taken from a heronry of about 200 nests in high cotton- 
wood trees near Windsor on the Cache la Poudre River. 
The nests were thirty feet up, and were made of small 
twigs put solidly together. The eggs were taken May 
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