77 
he place his foot oa the moist ground, cau- 
tiously suspending it for awhile at each step 
of his progress. Now his golden eye ghme- 
es over the surrouudiug objects, in survey- 
ing which he takes advantage of the full 
stretch of his gi'aceful neck. Satisfied that 
no danger is near, he lays his head on his 
shoulders, allows the feathers of his breast 
to droop, and patiently awaits tlxe approacli 
of his finned prey. You might imagine 
what you see to 
be the sUitue of 
a bird so mo- 
tionless i^ it. 
But now, he 
moves ; he has 
t^keu a silent 
step, and with 
great care he 
advances ; slow- 
ly does he raise 
his heiid from 
his shoulders, 
and n<nv, what 
a sudden start ! 
his formidable 
bill has trans- 
fixed a perch, 
which he beats 
to death on the 
ground. See 
with whatdiili- 
culty hegulpsit 
down his capa- 
Hous throat ! 
«nd now his 
broad wings o- 
pen, and away 
he slowly flies 
to another sta- 
tion, to find other food, or perhaps to a- 
void his unwelcome observers. 
The Blue Crane" (by which name this 
species is generally known in the United 
Suites) is met with in every part of the 
Union. Although more abundant in the 
low lands of our Atlantic coast, it is not 
uticomraon in the countries west of the Al- 
leghany Mountiiins. I have found it in ev- 
ery State in which 1 have travelled, as well 
THE GRKAT HLUK HKUON. 
as in all our " Territories." It is Avell 
known from Lonisiana to Maine, but sel- 
dom octrurs farther east than Prince Ed- 
ward's Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
and not a Heron of any kind did L see or 
hear of in Newfoundland or Labnulor. 
Westward, T believe, it readies to the very 
bases of the Rocky Mountains. It is a 
hardy bird, and bears the extremes of tem- 
perature surprisingly, being in its tribe what 
the Passenger 
Pigeon is in the 
iamily ofDov's. 
During the 
coldest part of 
winter tlie Blue 
Heron is ob- 
served in the 
State ol' Mass- 
achusetts and in 
Maiue, spend- 
ing its time iu 
search of prey 
about the warm 
springs a n d 
ponds wliich 
occur there in 
certain dis- 
tricts. Tiiey are 
not rare in the 
Middle States, 
l)Ut more plen- 
tiful to the west 
and south of 
Peiuisylva n ia, 
wliich perhaps 
arises from the 
incessant war 
waged against 
them. 
Extremely suspicions and shy, this bird 
is ever on the look-out. Its sight is as a- 
cute as that of any Falcon, and it can hear 
at a considerable distance, so that it is en- 
abled to mark with precision the different 
objects it sees, and to judge with accurra- 
cy of the sounds which it hears. Unless 
under very favourable circumstances, it is 
almost hopeless to att-empt to approach it. 
You may now and then surprise one feed- 
