and it was noted that there were very few if any in the white 

 phase. The rare Snowy Egrets {Egretta candidissima) seemed 

 to be increasing, and were more abundant than when I visited 

 the island last July. The boats anchored near enough to the 

 shore for the party to make out the plumes on the Egrets with 

 the aid of good glasses. The Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 

 which can be found widely distributed in summer of course nests 

 on the island. The Black-crowned Night Herons {Nydicorax 

 nydicorax naevius) were numerous, and undoubtedly they also 

 breed on the island. No American Egrets {Herodias egretta) 

 were seen on this trip, though they have been reported in former 

 years. The party observed about twenty species of birds during 

 the afternoon. E. A. Williams. 



Further Observations on Heron Island. — The present breeding 

 site of the herons on Heron Island is located exclusively on the 

 inner side of the island facing Secessionville, where a fringe of 

 bushes was left when the island was practically denuded last 

 year and planted out in hay.^ Seven tall palmettoes guard the 

 thickly crowded nests beneath and probably indicate the reason 

 why the clearing of the island was not made complete. Here 

 also are the piles of brush thrown on the narrow beach after it 

 was cut from the island. This brush and the bushes still stand- 

 ing consist almost entirely of Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) and 

 of Christmas-berry {Ilex vomitoria), running into Sea Ox-eye 

 {Borrichia frutescens) and Saltwater Myrtle {Baccharis hamili- 

 folia) along the beach. Except for these and a few herbaceous 

 beach plants and grasses the island is completely in possession 

 of a luxuriant growth of weeds, unquestionably introduced with 

 the hay seed planted last year. Barely topping the weeds are 

 the young Live Oak and Christmas-berry trees so carefully set 

 out last fall with the fifty dollars contributed by the National 

 Audubon Society. No sign of nests are to be found among the 

 new plantation though one was observed in that sturdy weed, 

 the common Nightshade (Solanum nigrum). The trees seem to 

 be alive but have not leafed out, and furthermore, they need to 

 be more thickly planted to afford immediate support for nests. 

 The Museum will need to plant more extensively and to make 

 some effort to eradicate the weeds before this heron colony can 

 be restored to its former numbers, which are said to have reached 

 the thousands. 



» See Sasa. H. R. The SecesaionviUe Heronry. Bull. Chas. Mub. VIII, 1912, p. 51—53. 



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