46 
ARDEA CERULiEA. 
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, lizards, various 
larvae of winged insects, and mud worms. It moves 
actively about in search of these, sometimes making a 
run at its prey ; and is often seen in company with the 
snowy heron. Like this last, it is also very silent, intent, 
and watchful. 
The genus ardea is the most numerous of all the 
wading tribes, there being no less than ninety-six dif- 
ferent species enumerated by late writers. These are 
again subdivided into particular families, each dis- 
tinguished by a certain peculiarity. The cranes, by 
having the head bald ; the storks, with the orbits naked ; 
and the herons, with the middle claw pectinated. To 
this last belong the bitterns. Several of these are 
nocturnal birds, feeding only as the evening twilight 
commences, and reposing either among the long grass 
and reeds, or on tall trees, in sequestered places, during 
the day. What is very remarkable, these night wan- 
derers often associate, during the breeding season, 
with the others, building their nests on the branches 
of the same tree; and, though differing so little in 
external form, feeding on nearly the same food, living 
and lodging in the same place, yet preserve their race, 
language, and manners, as perfectly distinct from those 
