132 NOTES ON THE HERONS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA. 



NOTES ON THE HERONS OF CENTRAL 

 FLORIDA. 



BY T. GILBERT PEARSON, ARCHER, FLORIDA. 



Of the sub-family Ardeinie, or true Herons, eight species 

 breed regularly in this section, and for the most part reside 

 here throughout the year. When one wishes to observe these 

 birds to the best advantage it is but a matter of a few hours' 

 drive at most to one of the numerous prairies which may be 

 found anywhere in the pine regions of Florida. These are 

 not prairies in the Western sense, but tracts of flat land, 

 from a few acres to several miles in extent, where trees are 

 prevented from growing by occasional flooding after exces- 

 sive rains. Here and there are shallow, grassy ponds and 

 lakes, covered with water lilies and holding beneath their 

 surface the roots of straggling bunches of buttonwood 

 bushes. The prairies are covered with a growth of short 

 grass over which hundreds of half wild cattle and hogs roam 

 at will. 



These places, at all seasons, are the feeding-grounds of 

 herons ; and to the lover of Nature it is a beautiful sight to 

 watch the movements of these graceful birds, cautiously 

 stealing along the margin with head half lowered and 

 eye intent on the water at their feet. Suddenly the head is 

 raised and like a flash the long bill descends upon some un- 

 lucky frog or fish — not transfixing it, as so many suppose, but 

 grasping it between the mandibles. Then follows one or 

 two rapid backward movements of the head and neck, and 



