104 
GREEN HERON. 
most numerous and generally dispersed ; being found far in the in- 
terior, as well as along our salt marshes ; and every where about 
the muddy shores of our mill-ponds, creeks and large rivers. 
The Green Bittern begins to build about the twentieth of 
April ; sometimes in single pairs in swampy woods ; often in com- 
panies ; 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, tho loosely put together. The 
female lays four eggs, of the common oblong form, and of a pale 
light blue color. 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. During 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 yellow 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 plumage, that it 
may be the more conveniently drawn in over the breast, but is co- 
vered 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 liave particularly observed in numerous instances, 
differs in nothing as to color from the male ; neither of them re- 
ceive the long feathers on the back during the first season. 
