BLUE CRANE. 4I r 



Ardea. The same writer has still further increased this con- 

 fusion by designating as a different species his bluish heron 

 {A. ccerulescens), which agrees almost exactly with the pre- 

 sent. Some of these mistakes may probably have originated 

 from the figure of this bird given by Catesby, which appears to 

 have been drawn and coloured, not from nature, but from the 

 glimmering recollections of memory, and is extremely erro- 

 neous. These remarks are due to truth, and necessary to the 

 elucidation of the history of this species, which seems to be 

 but imperfectly known in Europe. 



The blue heron is properly a native of the warmer climates 

 of the United States, migrating from thence at the approach 

 of winter to the tropical regions, being found in Cayenne, 

 Jamaica, and Mexico. On the muddy shores of the Mississippi, 

 from Baton Eouge downwards to New Orleans, these birds 

 are frequently met with. In spring they extend their migra- 

 tions as far north as New England, chiefly in the vicinity of 

 the sea, becoming more rare as they advance to the north. 

 On the sea-beach of Cape May, I found a few of them breeding 

 among the cedars, in company with the snowy heron, night 

 heron, and green bittern. The figure and description of the 

 present was taken from two of these, shot in the month of 

 May, while in complete plumage. Their nests were composed 

 of small sticks, built in the tops of the red cedars, and contained 

 five eggs, of a light blue colour, and of somewhat a deeper 

 tint than those of the night heron. Little or no difference 

 could be perceived between the colours 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 neighbourhood of the ocean, probably on account 

 of the greater temperature of the climate, is yet particularly 

 fond of fresh-water bogs, on the edges of the salt marsh. 

 These it often frequents, wading about in search of tadpoles, 



