ten miles from any marsh, pond, or river. I have also observed nests on
the tops of the tallest trees, while others were only a few feet above the
ground: some also I have seen on the ground itself, and many on cactuses.
In the Carolinas, where Herons of all sorts are extremely abundant,
perhaps as much so as in the lower parts of Louisiana or the Floridas,
on account of the numerous reservoirs connected with the rice plantations,
and the still more numerous ditches which intersect the rice-fields,
all of which contain fish of various sorts, these birds find it easy to procure
food in great abundance. There the Blue Herons breed in considerable
numbers, and if the place they have chosen be over a swamp,
few situations can be conceived more likely to ensure their safety, for one
seldom ventures into those dismal retreats at the time when these birds
breed, the effluvia being extremely injurious to health, besides the difficulties
to be overcome in making one's way to them.
Imagine, if you can, an area of some hundred acres, overgrown with
huge cypress trees, the trunks of which, rising to a height of perhaps fifty
feet before they send off a branch, spring from the midst of the dark
muddy waters. Their broad tops, placed close together with interlaced
branches, seem intent on separating the heavens from the earth. Beneath
their dark canopy scarcely a single sunbeam ever makes its way; the
mire is covered with fallen logs, on which grow matted grasses and lichens,
and the deeper parts with nympheae and other aquatic plants. The
Congo snake and water-moccasin glide before you as they seek to elude
your sight, hundreds of turtles drop, as if shot, from the floating trunks
of the fallen trees, from which also the sullen alligator plunges into the
dismal pool. The air is pregnant with pestilence, but alive with musquitoes
and other insects. The croaking of the frogs, joined with the hoarse
cries of the Anhingas and the screams of the Herons, forms fit music for
such a scene. Standing knee-deep in the mire, you discharge your gun
at one of the numerous birds that are breeding high over head, when immediately
such a deafening noise arises, that, if you have a companion
with you, it were quite useless to speak to him. The frightened birds
cross each other confusedly in their flight; the young attempting to secure
themselves, some of them lose their hold, and fall into the water with
a splash ; a shower of leaflets whirls downwards from the tree-tops, and
you are glad to make your retreat from such a place. Should you wish
to shoot Herons, you may stand, fire, and pick up your game as long as
you please; you may obtain several species, too, for not only does the
Great Blue Heron breed there, but the White, and sometimes the Night
Heron, as well as the Anhinga, and to such places they return year after
year, unless they have been cruelly disturbed.
The nest of the Blue Heron, in whatever situation it may be placed,
is large and flat, externally composed of dry sticks, and matted with
weeds and mosses to a considerable thickness. When the trees are large
and convenient, you may see several nests on the same tree. The full
complement of eggs which these birds lay is three, and in no instance
have I found more. Indeed, this is constantly the case with all the large
species with which I am acquainted, from Ardea ccerulea to Jrdea occidentdlis;
but the smaller species lay more as they diminish in size, the
Louisiana Heron having frequently four, and the Green Heron five, and
even sometimes six. Those of the Great Blue Heron are very small
compared with the size of the bird, measuring only two and a half inches
by one and seven-twelfths; they are of a dull bluish-white, without spots,
rather rough, and of a regular oval form.
The male and the female sit alternately, receiving food from each
other, their mutual affection being as great as it is towards their young,
which they provide for so abundantly, that it is not uncommon to find
the nest containing a quantity of fish and other food, some fresh, and
some in various stages of putrefaction. As the young advance they are less
frequently fed, although still as copiously supplied whenever opportunity
offers ; but now and then I have observed them, when the nests were low,
standing on their haunches, with their legs spread widely before them,
and calling for food in vain. The quantity which they require is now so
great that all the exertions of the old birds appear at times to be insufficient
to satisfy their voracious appetite; and they do not provide for
themselves until fully able to fly, when their parents chase them off, and
force them to shift as they can. They are generally in good condition
when they leave the nest; but from want of experience they find it difficult
to procure as much food as they have been accustomed to, and soon
become poor. Young birds from the nest afford tolerable eating; but the
flesh of the old birds is by no means to my taste, nor so good as some epicures
would have us to believe, and I would at any time prefer that of a
Crow or young Eagle.
The principal food of the Great Blue Heron is fish of all kinds; but
it also devours frogs, lizards, snakes, and birds, as well as small quadrupeds,
such as shrews, meadow-mice, and young rats, all of which I have