506 BIRDS—GRUID 2. 
Ardea exilis, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 645. 
Ardetta exilis, GRAY, Genera of Birds, iii, 1849. 
No peculiar feathers, but those of the lower neck, long and loose, as in the Bittern ; 
size very small; 11-14 inches long; wing, 4-5; tail, 2 or less; bill, 2 or less; tarsus, 
about 13. Male with the slightly crested crown, back and tail, glossy greenish-black 3 
neck behind, most of the wing-coverts, and outer edges of inner qnills, rich chestnut, 
other wing-coverts, brownish-yellow ; front and sides of neck and under-parts, brown- 
ish-yellow, varied with white along the throat line, the sides of the breast with a black- 
ish-brown patch; bill and lores mostly pale yellow, the culmen blackish; eyes and soles 
yellow; legs greenish-yellow; female with the black of the back entirely, that of the 
crown mostly or wholly replaced by rich purplish-chestnut, the edges of the scapulars 
forming a brownish-white stripe on either side. 
Habitat, United States and British Provinces. Breeds throughoutits United States 
range, wintering in the South. Cuba. Jamaica. Central America. 
Not common summer resident especially in the higher portions 
of the State. In swampy districts it is not uncommon. Prefers wooded 
swamps but is often seen along water-courses, generally singly, though 
not so averse to the society of its fellows as the Bittern. During the 
migrations it often becomes confused and may turn up in most unex- 
pected localities. Audubon narrates the following: © 
‘*One morning while I was in the Cincinnati Museum, a woman came in holding in 
her apron oue of this delicate species alive, which she said had fallen down the chimney 
of her house under night, and which, when she awoke at day-break, was the first object 
she saw, it having perched on one of the bed-posts.” 
It is the most tame and unsuspicious of the family. On the 14 of May, 
1876 my friends, Oliver Davie and Arnold Boyle discovered one of these 
birds on the bank of the Scioto River within the city limits; being with- 
out a gun, they gave chase with stones and succeeded after an hour’s 
pursuit in securing a fine specimen for their collection. On this subject 
Dr. Coues says (Birds of Northwest, p., 520), ‘‘ Speaking in general terms, 
and without considering the artificial frame of mind brought about by 
man’s interference, the shyness of the Heron corresponds exactly to its 
61z9 ; and it isso with many other birds, particularly Gulls—the larger the 
species, the more wary.” 
Mr. Langdon, (Summer Birds, 1].c ) says that in Ottawa county they are ‘“‘quite commen, 
frequenting and nesting amongst the ‘deer-tongue’ and ‘ saw-grass,’ at a considerable 
distance fromland. Jndging from the depth of water in the situations where they were 
most numerous, we inferred that they spend much of their time clinging to tall aquatic 
grasses, 2nd walking about on the lily ‘pads’ in search of food. They uttered no sound 
when flushed, and flew as noiselessly as owls. The nest is rather a bulky affair for the 
size of the bird, composed entirely of ‘saw-grass,’ a platform being constracted by bend- 
ing a number of green blades toward a common center, so that they cross each other at a 
height of tifteen or twenty inches from the water; this platform is slightly depressed in 
the center and the depression lined with a few blades of dried grasa of the same species 
