Identifier: birdlifeguidetos00chapman (find matches)
Title: Bird-life; a guide to the study of our common birds
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Chapman, Frank M. (Frank Michler), 1864-1945 Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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a distant bush or tree, andwith upstretched neck and twitching tail watches theintiuder. The Kight Heron, or Squawk, doubtless owes itsescape from the fate of most Herons to its nocturnal habits. These birds arrive from theBlack-crowned r< ,t • » -i i • J.•^ r\ Night Heron, ^^^^^^^ i -^P^il ^^1 remam until Oc-yijctifom.r vydk-urax tober. They nest in large colonies, arookery not far from New York citybeing inhabited by at least one thousandpairs. It is in a low, wooded tract, and the nests are builtin the trees at an average height of thirty feet. The eggsnumber four to six, and in color are pale bluish green. At night, while feeding, these Herons are doubtlessdistributed over a wide area. When flying, they oftenutter a loud squmoh, the origin of one of their commonnames. It is a surprising sound when heard near by atnight, and has doubtless aroused the curiosity of manypersons who live near a line of flight followed by thesebirds in going to and from their nests. Plate VI.
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Plate VI. LITTLE GREEN HERON.(Length, 1700 inches.) BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON(Young and Adult).(Length, SUOO inches.)GREAT BLUE HERON.(Length, UoOO inches.)97 98 AMERICAN BITTERN. The Bittern, or Stake Driver, is a summer resident ofoiir larger marslies, arriving early in April and remainingAmerican Bittern, ^^^1^ October. Tlioiigli by no meansBotauius ie)iti(jinoms. common, its notes are so loud and re-Piate VII. markable that even a single calling bird is more likely to attract attention than many smallerabundant species. Under favorable circumstances thesenotes may be heard for at least three fourths of a mile.They are of two kinds. One is described as the pump-ing call, and is generally written j)a7nj:)-e)-lunk, parnj)-er-luiik^pamp-er-lunlx\ while the other is deceptively likethe sound produced by driving a stake in the mud. Mr.Bradford Torrey, one of the few ornithologists who hasobserved the bird while it was uttering these singularcries, tells us (The Auk, vi, 1889, p. 1) that

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