126 
THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 
tlieir 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 stomach. Aquatic insects are equally welcome to it, and it is an expert 
fly-catcher, striking at moths, butterflies, and libellul®, 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, 1 
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 breeding them in a pond, through which ran a fine streamlet, 
and which was surrounded 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 
