The Anthony Green Heron 



afforded for study at close range of a plumage which is unusually hand- 

 some, especially as regards the bottle-green and glaucous shades of the 

 upperparts. Again, I have caught a bird in the open by a tide-gut, alert 

 and very cocky, intent upon the 

 fishing. Upon discovering that he 

 is the object of scrutiny, the bird 

 will shrivel marvelously, upon the 

 instant, and go scuttling off across 

 the mud, praying only that he may 

 be taken for an emaciated Marsh 

 Sparrow. 



The ordinary fare of this little 

 heron consists of minnows, frogs, 

 snails, leeches, etc., but as the season 

 advances, beetles and other insects, 

 with their larvae, are added. Dr. 

 Lynds Jones tells of an eastern bird 

 which he once saw stretched out flat 

 on a slanting log at a point where 

 it ran under water, and beneath 

 which various kinds of minnows had 

 found a congenial shelter. The bird 

 was resting motionless, with its bill 

 at the water's edge, when suddenly 

 it darted its head under water and 

 withdrew a wriggling minnow. This 

 it swallowed at once and then waited 

 at ready as before. Sometimes a 

 quarter of an hour would pass before 

 the next fish, silly or forgetful, would 

 venture too near the waiting spear. 

 The heron returned to his lowly 

 station daily, and watched with the 

 patience of an Eskimo until the 

 hole was fished out. 



The willow groves which flank 

 streams or cover swampy bottoms are 

 favorite places of resort for nest build- 

 ing. In default of these, however, the birds will resort to oaks or even fir 

 saplings. The nest is a shallow but substantial platform built up with 

 dead twigs or sticks of a nearly uniform size and lodged securely upon 

 spreading branches. There is no suspicion of a lining, and the four or 



Taken in Santa Barbara Photo by the Author 



A NODE OF FLIGHT 



ANTHONY GREEN HERON FLUSHING FROM THE ESTERO 



/pop 



