. Bird-life; a guide to the study of our common birds . ened. It thenseeks refuge by alighting in a distant bush or tree, andwith upstretched neck and twitching tail watches theintruder. The Night Heron, or Squawk, doubtless owes its escape from the fate of most Herons to its nocturnal habits. These birds arrive from the Nieht Heron ^^^^^^ ^^ April and remain until Oc- Nycticorax nycticorax tober. Tliey ucst in large colonies, a nrnvius. rookery not far from l^ew York city being inhabited by at least one thousand pairs. It is in a low, wooded tract, and the nests are built in the trees at an a
. Bird-life; a guide to the study of our common birds . ened. It thenseeks refuge by alighting in a distant bush or tree, andwith upstretched neck and twitching tail watches theintruder. The Night Heron, or Squawk, doubtless owes its escape from the fate of most Herons to its nocturnal habits. These birds arrive from the Nieht Heron ^^^^^^ ^^ April and remain until Oc- Nycticorax nycticorax tober. Tliey ucst in large colonies, a nrnvius. rookery not far from l^ew York city being inhabited by at least one thousand pairs. It is in a low, wooded tract, and the nests are built in the trees at an average height of thirty feet. The eggs number 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 squawh, 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 Plate XXIX. Page 120. RUBY-THEOATED HUMMINGBIRD. Length, 3-75 inches. Adult wa/?, upper parts metallic green; throat metallic ruVjy-red; belly grayish; sides greenish. Adult female and young, similar, but throat white. AMERICAN BITTERN. 93 The Bittern, or Stake Driver, is a summer resident ofour larger marshes, arriving early in April and remainingAmerican Bittern, ^i^ October. Though by no meansBotaurus Unfujinoms. common, its uotcs are 80 loud and re-Plate VII. markable that even a single callingbird is more likely to attract attention than many smallerabundant species. Under favorable circumstances thesenotes may be heard for at least three fourths of a are of two kinds. One is described as the pump-ing call, and is generally ^riiten 2))-er-lunk, pumji)-er-lunh^pump-er-lunh^ while the other is deceptively likethe sound produced by driving a stake in the mud. Torrey, one of the few ornithologists who h
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