Birds and Nature Vol. 11 No. 5 [May 1902]

Various

Various

Birds and Nature Vol. 11 No. 5 [May 1902] Illustrated by Color Photography

“HARK, HARK, THE LARK!”

A little lyric, as clear as water,

Sweeter voiced than the river daughter,

Or Dryope’s moan,

Rang from the heart of the truest singer,

And straight the sound was the magic bringer

Of joys unknown.

For night had fallen and day had risen,

And, breaking through his eastern prison,

The glad sun shone;

And all was fragrant and sweet with morning,

And to the sky, the sad earth scorning,

The lark had flown.

And, faintly heard from the coast of heaven,

The song of the glad strong seraphs seven

Was earthward blown,

And echoed, with a strange completeness,

(As a small bloom treasures infinite sweetness),

In the lyric’s tone.

And the marvelous freedom of the dawning

Breathed large through the gates of life,

Wide yawning,

Far open thrown;

And the trembling thrill of incarnation

Awoke the earth to the new creation

Of Beauty’s own.

    – Edward O. Jackson.

THE LITTLE GREEN HERON

(Ardea virescens.)

Oh, give me back my thicket by the marsh!

Let me see the herons wade

In the watery glade,

And let me see the water-fowl go by

Glimmering against the sky.

    – Maurice Thompson, “In Captivity.”

The Ardeidae, or the family of herons, egrets and bitterns, includes about seventy-five species, which are world wide in their distribution, though much more common in temperate regions. So widely scattered are the species of this family, whose Latin name means heron, that most persons who are deeply interested in the study of bird life are more or less familiar with their habits. The large size of the herons, together with their long bills, necks and legs, renders them conspicuous and demands more than a passing glance from even the casual observer. Many bodies of water in retired locations will harbor at the proper season one or more species of this interesting family.

One of the smallest of the herons, and one of the most common in many localities, is the Little Green Heron, familiarly known to the rural Hoosier boy as the “Schytepoke,” and to others as the “Poke.” It is not the purpose to give a description of this bird; those of our readers – if there be any – who are not familiar with it will find minute descriptions of it in all the standard manuals. However, a few observations on its nesting and feeding habits may be of some value and interest.

In central Indiana the Little Green Heron arrives from its winter residence in Florida, or farther southward, about the last of April, and immediately begins nesting, selecting, if convenient, second growth timber, especially if there be a thicket of undergrowth. But if these conditions be not at hand, it seems to prefer, as a site for its nest, an old abandoned orchard, or at least one somewhat remote from human habitation, but not very far distant from a stream or pond. In the fork of some tree ten to twenty feet above ground is collected a considerable sized but irregular and loose bundle of rough sticks. In this by the middle of May, or at times even earlier, it lays from three to six greenish blue eggs, about an inch and a half long by an inch and a quarter in diameter. The period of incubation cannot be long, as some years young almost ready to fly can be found before the last of May. We have never found more than one nest in the same immediate vicinity, but, according to Ridgway, it sometimes nests in colonies.

For the remainder of the summer this is a social bird, at least to the extent that the whole family remain together, wading the water, stalking along the banks or perching on trees, bushes and logs. At this time it displays some curiosity when a person comes warily into its haunts. Its long neck is stretched to its limit as the bird endeavors to keep an eye on the intruder, and at the slightest suspicious movement on the part of the latter, i