Grotesque and tall, he stands erect,
Where the reed-riffle swirls and gleams.
Grave, melancholy, circumspect--
A hermit of the streams.--ERNEST MCGAFFEY.
ERRONEOUSLY called Sandhill Crane or Blue Crane, by which names it is
better known than by its proper name, this bird is well known as one of the
most characteristic of North America, breeding, as it does, singly and in
colonies from the Arctic regions southward to the West Indies and South
America. In the warmer parts of the country it breeds in vast heronries in
company with other species of Herons, of which there are eleven or twelve,
to which places they resort year after year. It is a common bird, except in
localities far removed from streams or ponds which furnish its food supply.
This solitary and wary bird is usually seen standing in shallow water,
often in mid-stream, but it requires great caution and skill on the part of
the person who would observe its movements to get a view of him, as he
usually first sees the intruder, and startles him by his harsh squawking
cries as he flies from his feeding place.
The nests are placed in trees along rivers, usually the largest. They are
bulky structures of sticks on the highest branches, a dozen or more nests
sometimes being built in one tree. In localities destitute of trees the
nests are built on rocks. Sycamore trees are favorite resorts of these
birds, the light color of the limbs and the peculiar tint of the foliage
harmonizing so well with their plumage as to render their presence
difficult of detection.
The Heron's food consists of fishes, frogs, crawfish, and the like, large
quantities of which must be sacrificed to appease its voracious appetite,
as many as ten good-sized fishes having been disgorged at one time by a
Heron that was in haste to get away, a happy provision of nature which
often enables this family of birds to escape from the squirrel hunters and
irresponsible gun-carriers.
The eggs of this species are plain greenish-blue and three or four in
number. The young are without plumes, which develop gradually with
maturity.
Dr. Neill mentions a curious instance of the Heron feeding on young
Water-hens. A large old willow tree has fallen down into the pond, and at
the extremity, which is partly sunk in the sludge and continues to
vegetate, Water-hens breed. The old male Heron swims out to the nest and
takes the young if he can. He has to swim ten or twelve feet, where the
water is between two and three feet deep. His motion through the water is
slow, but his carriage stately. He has been seen to fell a rat at one blow
on the back of the head, when the rat was munching at his dish of fish.
While the Heron stands on the water's edge, it remains still as if carved
out of rock, with its neck retracted, and its head resting between the
shoulders. In this attitude its sober plumage and total stillness render it
very inconspicuous, and as it prefers to stand under the shadow of a tree,
bush, or bank, it cannot be seen except by a practiced eye, in spite of its
large size.
The flight of the Heron is grand and stately. The head, body, and legs are
held in a line, stiff and immovable, and the gently waving wings carry the
bird through the air with a rapidity that seems the effect of magic.
[Illustration: GREAT BLUE HERON.]
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