GREKNHERON. 
69 
The Green Bittern begins to build about the twentieth ol" 
April; sometimes in single pairs in swampy woods; often in 
companies; and not unfrequently in a kind of association with 
the Qua-birds, or Night Herons. The nest is fixed among the 
branches of the trees; is constructed wholly of small sticks, lined 
with finer twigs, and is of considerable size, though loosely put 
together. The female lays four eggs, of the common oblong 
form, and of a pale light blue colour. The young do not leave 
the nest until able to fly; and for the first season, at least, are 
destitute of the long pointed plumage on the back; the lower 
parts are also lighter, and the white on the throat broader. Du- 
ring the whole summer, and until late in autumn, these birds 
are seen in our meadows and marshes, but never remain during 
winter in any part of the United States. 
The Green Bittern is eighteen inches long, and twenty -five 
inches in extent; bill black, lighter below, and 5^ellow at the 
base; chin and narrow streak down the throat yellowish white; 
neck dark vinaceous red; back covered with very long tapering 
pointed feathers, of a hoary green, shafted with white, on a 
dark green ground; the hind part of the neck is destitute of plu- 
mage, thM it may be the more conveniently drawn in over the 
breast, but is covered with the long feathers of the throat, and 
sides of the neck that enclose it behind; wings and tail dark 
glossy green, tipt and bordered with yellowish white; legs and 
feet yellow, tinged before with green, the skin of these thick 
and moveable; belly ashy brown; irides bright orange; crested 
head very dark glossy green. The female, as I have particular- 
ly observed, in numerous instances, differs in nothing as to co- 
lour from the male; neither of them receive the long feathers 
on the back during the first season. 
There is one circumstance attending this bird, which, I re- 
collect, at first surprised me. On shooting and wounding one, I 
carried it some distance by the legs, which were at first yellow, 
but on reaching home, I perceived, to my surprise, that they 
were red. On letting the bird remain some time undisturbed, 
they again became yellow, and I then discovered that the action 
