222 American Birds 



sweeping down the avenues between the pointed firs with 

 a departing guttural squawk. 



One of the most risky and perilous pieces of work 

 ever done in the tree-top was accomplished here in the 

 tall firs in getting the nest and eggs of the Great Blue 

 Heron [Ardea herodias) . The photographer had se- 

 lected the most " climbable-looking " stronghold in the 

 heronry, where the nearest nest was a hundred and thirty 

 feet up. But after the long, arduous ascent, he found that 

 both nests contained newly hatched birds. Just fifteen 

 feet away in the branches of an adjoining tree was a nest 

 containing four eggs. To get this, the photographer 

 strapped himself carefully in the branches and wrapped 

 his legs about the trunk. With a rope he lassoed the 

 broken end of a limb on the adjoining tree, and, by slip- 

 ping the cord back and forth, worked the rope up to the 

 trunk. A slow, steady pull and the tops of the trees 

 bent closer together. The tension became stronger and 

 stronger between the two trees, until at four feet it 

 looked like a huge catapult that might suddenly be 

 sprung and shoot the climber backward into space. In 

 another instant an aerial bridge was formed in the tree- 

 top while the photographer secured his prize. 



The heronries in the Oregon forests are pretty well 

 protected from the raids of a bird-photographer by rea- 

 son of their great height from the ground. For several 

 years we hunted for a colony of these birds, where a good 

 series of photographs could be taken. We never found 

 one in Oregon, but we did discover one in California last 

 summer. 



Down in the swamp regions at the lower end of San 



