ARDEID.E — THE HERONS — NYCTICORAX. 59 



roaming about at night it utters a peculiar guttural sound, from which it derives the 

 name, by which it is generally known by gunners, of Quawk. 



Mr. W. E. Endicott, in the first volume of the " Naturalist," gives an account of 

 a heronry visited by him in Norfolk County, Mass., in a cedar swamp, wet and diffi- 

 cult of access. This was first noticed in 1862, attention having been drawn to it by 

 the whiteness of the ground, caused by the surrounding excrements. The young 

 birds were fed from the adjacent ponds and river, their food being in large part 

 herrings. The nests were always built against the trunks of the trees, six or 

 eight feet from the tops. Sometimes as many as four nests might be seen in a 

 single cedar. The eggs were usually four in number, occasionally six, and even 

 seven. The young are covered with down, and are at first quite helpless ; but soon 

 gain strength enough to climb to the upper branches, where they are fed by their 

 parents until nearly full grown. Two broods were often reared in a season, and it 

 was no uncommon thing to see four or five of the first brood sitting on the tree-top, 

 while the nest below contained as many more of the younger brood, both sets being 

 fed by their parents. They are clumsy climbers, and yet difficult to dislodge. When 

 one falls to the ground it usually sets off at full speed, croaking unceasingly as it 

 runs. Dr. Charles C. Abbott, writing to the "Naturalist" (III. p. 377), records an 

 interesting instance in which a family of five birds of this species spent the winter 

 months in a yard within the limits of the city of Trenton, New Jersey. The place 

 was near the river, and retained much of its natural wildness. This little colony 

 remained during the daytime in the large pines in the yard, visiting, after sundoAvn, 

 a little pond and spring-brook, from which they obtained a supply of frogs and fish. 

 They occasionally visited the Delaware Kiver, and seemed quite indifferent to the 

 near presence of man. Major Wedderburn states that this species, in the immature 

 plumage only, becomes common in Bermuda in the month of September, and so con- 

 tinues through the winter, until March. The birds were found chiefly in mangrove 

 trees, on the borders of ponds. 



The Night Heron is not common north of the forty-second parallel, and is found 

 only in a few scattered and isolated colonies. It has been stated that it does not occur 

 in the Fur Country ; but this is not strictly correct : it is known to have been found 

 in a single locality. Donald Gunn states that it is seen in great numbers at Shoal 

 Lake, where it makes its nest, in all instances, on the ground among the reeds, and in 

 a manner similar to that of the Grebes. Audubon states that it is not found in the 

 interior ; but this is not without many exceptions. 



In the summers of 1834 and 1835 we visited the once celebrated heronry of this 

 bird in the swampy woods near Fresh Pond, Cambridge. It occupied many acres, 

 and previous to the draining of that region was almost inaccessible. At the time of 

 these visits most of the nests contained eggs, and the birds were sitting. Each one, 

 as it left the nest, uttered a loud qnaioJx\ while a few remained and hovered over our 

 heads, but in silence. The nests were in the highest trees, and never less than 

 twenty feet from the ground. In no instance that we remember were there more 

 than four eggs in a nest. Subsequently we received four young birds taken from one 

 of these nests ; they were about a week old, covered with a thin down, and unable to 

 stand. They were easily tamed, fed readily, and grew very fast. They were fed 

 with different kinds of food — principally with liver, occasionally with mice, rats, 

 frogs, and other reptiles. Once only were they given fragments of snakes ; but as 

 that killed three of them, and nearly destroyed the survivor, this diet was avoided. 

 The last lived in confinement nearly two years, and proved a very interesting pet. 

 He lived in the society of the poultry, but would not permit their near approach, his 



