| BLUE CRANE. 535 
two of these, shot in the month of May, while in complete plu- 
mage. Their nests were composed of small sticks, built in the 
tops of the red cedars, and contained five eggs, of a light blue color, 
and of somewhat a deeper tint than those of the Night Heron. Little 
or no difference could be perceived between the colors and markings ' 
of the male and female. This remark is applicable to almost the 
whole genus ; though, from the circumstance of many of the yearling 
birds differing in plumage, they have been mistaken for females. 
The Blue Heron, though in the Northern States it be found chiefly 
in the neighborhood of the ocean, probably on account of the greater 
temperature of the climate, is yet particularly fond of fresh-water bogs, 
on the edges ofthe salt marsh. These it often frequents, wading about 
insearch of tadpoles, lizards, various larve of winged insects, and mud 
worms. It moves actively about in search of these, sometimes mak- 
ing a run at its prey; and is often seen in company with the Snowy 
Heron, figured in the same plate. Like this last, it is also very silent, 
intent, and watchful. 
The genus Ardea is the most numerous of all the wading tribes, 
there being no less than ninety-six different species enumerated by 
late writers. These are again subdivided into particular families, each 
distinguished by a certain peculiarity —the Cranes, by having the 
head bald; the Storks, with the orbits naked; and the Herons, with 
the middle claw pectinated. Too this last belong the Bitterns. Sev- 
eral of these are nocturnal birds, feeding only as the evening twilight 
commences, and reposing either among the long grass and reeds, or 
on tall trees, in sequestered places, during the day. What is very 
remarkable, these night wanderers often associate, during the breeding 
season, with the others, building their nests on the branches of the same 
‘tree ; and, though differing so little in external form, feeding on nearly 
the same food, living and lodging in the same place, yet preserve their 
yace, language, and manners, as perfectly distinct from those of their 
neighbors, as if each inhabited a separate quarter of the globe. 
The Blue Heron is twenty-three inches’ in length, and three feet in 
extent; the bill is black, but from the nostril to the eye, in both man- 
dibles, is of a rich,.Jight purplish blue; iris of the eye, gray; pupil, 
black, surrounded by ‘a narrow silvery ring; eyelid, light blue; the 
whole head, and greater part of the neck, is of a deep purplish brown ; 
from the crested hind head shoot three narrow-pointed feathers, that 
reach nearly six inches beyond the eye; lower part of the neck, 
breast, belly, and whole body, a deep slate color, with lighter reflec- 
tions; the back is covered with long, flat, and narrow feathers, some 
of which are ten inches long, and extend four inches beyond the tail; 
the breast is also ornamented with a number of these long, slender 
feathers; legs, blackish green; inner side of the middle claw, pecti- 
nated. The breast and sides of the rump, under the plumage, are 
clothed with a mass of yellowish white, unelastic, cottony down, similar 
to that in most of the tribe, the uses of which are not altogether 
understood. Male and female alike in color. 
The young birds of the first year are destitute of the purple plu- 
mage on the head and neck. 
