. Birds the world over, as shown in habitat groups in Chicago Natural History Museum. Birds. as yet unable to fly, clamber about in the branches and add their squawks to those of the parents. Herons, like most birds, are highly adaptable, using what is available, and while in the Chicago area they nest high in tree tops; where there are no trees they may nest in bushes or even on the ground. In the bush in the right foreground of the group is a little green heron on its nest. It contrasts with the great blue heron in a number of ways, being much smaller, less shy, much more active, and more of
. Birds the world over, as shown in habitat groups in Chicago Natural History Museum. Birds. as yet unable to fly, clamber about in the branches and add their squawks to those of the parents. Herons, like most birds, are highly adaptable, using what is available, and while in the Chicago area they nest high in tree tops; where there are no trees they may nest in bushes or even on the ground. In the bush in the right foreground of the group is a little green heron on its nest. It contrasts with the great blue heron in a number of ways, being much smaller, less shy, much more active, and more often hidden in shrubbery or reeds. It has catholic tastes in food, eating, amongst other things, minnows, crayfish, frogs, grasshoppers and cutworms. It often walks along until it sees its prey: then it crouches down and ap- proaches stealthily until it is within range, when the neck that has been folded up snaps out its full length to drive the bill forward into the prey. In nesting, this bird is adaptable, sometimes nesting high, sometimes low-even on the ground; sometimes it nests singly, sometimes in colonies, but rarely with other species. The pale green eggs are usually four or fi\e in number. They hatch in about seventeen days. At an early age the young climb about among the branches. ^Vhen young herons are approached they have what is to us a most disgusting method of de- fense, for they regurgitate the contents of the stomach. Though the scene of the present exhibit is in Michigan, both species of heron and the male wood duck in the foreground are common in the Chicago area. No less than eight other species of herons have been recorded "291. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Chicago Natural History Museum; Rand, Austin Loomer, 1905-1982; Blake, Emmet Reid, 1908-. [Chicago]
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Keywords: ., bookauth, bookcentury1900, bookpublisherchicago, booksubjectbirds
