THE LIVING WORLD. 
377 
a very gourmand, with insatiable Hunger, so that the “ appetite of a heron ” has 
grown into an aphorism to express gluttony. He builds almost invariably in 
BEARDED CRANE. 
I. GREAT BITTERN. 2 . WHITE CRANE. 3 . CURLEW. 
the tops of high trees, dead 
branches being preferred, the 
nest being constructed of 
sticks, with no attempt at 
neatness, but the interior is 
comfortably lined with wool or 
other soft substance. The number of eggs is four or five, of a pale green color. 
The White Crane, or Egret (.Ardea egretta ), is an American species found 
in considerable numbers during summer time 
along the shores of sandbars busily engaged 
fishing, but like the heron, it will also eat the 
smaller mammalia. It breeds principally in cedar 
swamps, on the dead tops of trees, laying generally 
four eggs. It is an extremely wary bird, instinct 
probably teaching it that the worst enemy of all 
creatures—man—covets its beautiful white plu¬ 
mage, and especially the long, delicate train that 
at certain seasons of the year covers the tail. 
The height of this pretty bird is between three 
and four feet. 
The Blue, or Sandhill Crane (Grus canaden¬ 
sis) , is the largest of the species found in America. 
Occasional specimens are met with on sandbars 
of the Ohio river, but their homes seem to be west 
of the Mississippi, being distributed over the whole blue crane ( Grus tinerea). 
territory between 15 0 longitude and the Pacific, 
extending north to Alaska. It occasionally makes its nest in the sand, and 
at other times in the top of tall ferns, in open ground. The eggs are always 
