GEEAT BLUE HERON. Ill 



yellow ; culmen, dusky ; lores and legs, greenish. The young diifer considerably, 

 but are never white, and cannot be confounded with any of the succeeding. 



Hab. — North America, from the Arctic regions southward to the West 

 Indies and northern South America. 



Nest, usually in trees, sometimes on rocks. 



Eggs, two or three, elliptical light, dull greenish-blue. 



As the Great Blue Heron breeds in communities, it is not often 

 seen during the summer, except in the vicinity of the heronry. In 

 the fall, when the young birds are able to shift for themselves, they 

 disperse over the country, their tall, gaunt figures being often seen 

 standing motionless watching for eels by the shore of some muddy 

 creek. In the report of the Ornithological Branch of the Ottawa 

 Field Naturalists' Club, for 1883, is a most interesting account of a 

 visit paid by a number of members of the club to a heronry situated 

 on the bank of the river about twenty-five miles from the city. 

 Limited space will admit of only a short extract: "The heronry is 

 located in the centre of a thick swamp which, on the occasion of our 

 first visit, was so deeply submerged as to bar all ingress. On the 

 19th of July, however, the water was but knee deep. After proceed- 

 ing about half a mile into the swamp, our attention was arrested by a 

 peculiar sound which we at first thought proceeded from some distant 

 saw-mill or steamer on the river. As we advanced, however, the 

 sound resolved itself into, the most extraordinary noises, some of 

 which resembled the yelping of dogs or foxes. On- penetrating still 

 deeper into the swamp, we discovered that the noises proceeded from 

 immense numbers of herons, some perched on branches of trees, some 

 sitting on the nests, and others flying overhead. The uproar was 

 almost deafening, and the odor arising from the filth w^ith which the 

 trees and ground were covered was extremely disagreeable. We 

 tramped all through the heronry, and calculated that it must extend 

 about half a mile in each direction. The nests were all of the same 

 pattern, great cumbersome piles of sticks, about a foot thick, with 

 but a very shallow cavity and no lining. 



" The birds were very tame, making no attempt to fly until we 

 began to climb the trees on which they were; and even then they 

 moved lazily off and manifested little or no alarm at our near 

 approach to their young." 



Usually the adult Heron is an exceedingly wary bird, and is 

 seldom obtained except when he happens to fly above some hunter 

 who is concealed among the rushes watching for ducks. 



When thus brought down from above with neck, wings and legs 

 all mixed up, he presents a most ragged appearance, but when seen 



