BULLETIIV 



OP 



THE CHARLESTON MUSEUM 



Vol. 8 CHARLESTON, S. C, OCTOBER, 1912 No. 6 



THE SECESSIONVILLE HERONRY 



An event of the past summer which should be deeply interest- 

 ing to all students and lovers of birds was the purchase of the 

 Secessionville herony and its presentation to the Charleston 

 Museum to be kept by the Museum as a permanent refuge for 

 the many hundreds of herons which make their homes there every 

 spring and summer. This is probably the most effective step 

 ever taken in this state for the preservation of our herons and it is 

 doubly interesting because of the fact that in addition to the 

 commoner species breeding on the island a large colony of the 

 very rare Snowy Egret (Egretta candidissima) is established there. 



The purchase of the heronry was made just in time to prevent 

 its utter destruction. In fact, it is a great pity that the place 

 was not bought long ago. The fact that Snowy Egrets were 

 breeding in the heronry was discovered in May, 1908, and since 

 that time the place has been under the protection of the Audubon 

 Society, which has tried hard, but not always with success, to 

 keep the plume hunters from raiding the heronry. This spring 

 however, unknown to the society or to anybody in Charleston 

 interested in bird life, the owner of the island proceeded to re- 

 move all the bushes in which the herons had been accustomed to 

 breed and to plant the island in hay. Of course, the result was 

 disastrous to the herons. Probably two thirds of the total 

 number of birds breeding on the place were driven away. Those 



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