12Q THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 



their mutual affection being as great as it is towards their young, which they 

 provide for so abundantly, that it is not uncommon to find the nest contain- 

 ing a quantity of fish and other food, some fresh, and some in various stages 

 of putrefaction. As the young advance they are less frequently fed, although 

 still as copiously supplied whenever opportunity offers; but now and then I 

 have observed them, when the nests were low, standing on their haunches, 

 with their legs spread widely before them, and calling for food in vain. The 

 quantity which they require is now so great that all the exertions of the old 

 birds appear at times to be insufficient to satisfy their voracious appetite; and 

 they do not provide for themselves until fully able to fly, when their parents 

 chase them off, and force them to shift as they can. They are generally in 

 good condition when they leave the nest; but from want of experience they 

 find it difficult to procure as much food as they have been accustomed to, and 

 soon become poor. Young birds from the nest afford tolerable eating; but 

 the flesh of the old birds is by no means to my taste, nor so good as some 

 epicures would have us to believe, and I would at any time prefer that of a 

 Crow or young Eagle. 



The principal food of the Great Blue Heron is fish of all kinds; but it also 

 devours frogs, lizards, snakes, and birds, as well as small quadrupeds, such as 

 shrews, meadow-mice, and young rats, all of which I have found in its sto- 

 mach. Aquatic insects are equally welcome to it, and it is an expert fly- 

 catcher, striking at moths, butterflies, and libellulas, whether on the wing or 

 when alighted. It destroys a great number of young Marsh-Hens, Rails, and 

 other birds; but I never saw one catch a fiddler or a crab; and the only seeds 

 that I have found in its stomach were those of the great water-lily of the 

 Southern States. It always strikes its prey through the body, and as near 

 the head as possible. When the animal is strong and active, it kills it by 

 beating it against the ground or a rock, after which it swallows it entire. 

 While on the St. John's river in East Florida, I shot one of these birds, and 

 on opening it on board, found in its stomach a fine perch quite fresh, but of 

 which the head had been cut off. The fish, when cooked, I found excellent, 

 as did Lieutenant Piercy and my assistant Mr. Ward. When on a visit to 

 my friend John Bulow, I was informed by him, that although he had 

 several times imported gold fishes from New York, with the view of breed- 

 ing them in a pond, through which ran a fine streamlet, and which was sur- 

 rounded by a wall, they all disappeared in a few days after they were let 

 loose. Suspecting the Heron to be the depredator, I desired him to watch 

 the place carefully with a gun; which was done, and the result was, that he 

 shot a superb specimen of the present species, in which was found the last 

 gold fish that remained. 



In the wild state it never, I believe, eats dead fish of any sort, or indeed 



