NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 115 



by their cries. At this late date the young had all hatched and many of them 

 were fairly well grown, and the nests, nesting trees below them, and the ground 

 and shrubbery beneath looked as if there had been a h«avy fall of snow. This 

 was due to their regardless depositing of excrement. The warm weather had 

 dried it and every move in the heavy brush dislodged a cloud of it, making a 

 handkerchief held over the nose and mouth a necessity. In spite of this, I have 

 seldom had a more interesting experience. It is hard to say just how large the 

 colony was, but from oiae spot I was able to count 39 nests. These were all built 

 in a clump of immense cedar trees, at heights from the ground varying from 75 

 to 150 feet or more, sometimes five nests being built in one tree. Some years 

 later I was told of the colony at Lake Tapps, which I determined to visit in 

 time for eggs. The trip was made on April 20, 1905, but even that early date 

 proved almost too late, zoologically, as only one of the nests held anything but 

 newly hatched young. It was easy to tell this from the ground, as the birds 

 had simply dropped the empty eggshells over the edge of the nest, evidently 

 making no effort to carry them away. This colony had built in a clump of firs 

 on a hill surrounded by other clumps of firs, and the same complete silence was 

 noticed, as in the first one, until the birds knew we had found them. The trees 

 were smaller here, being only about 100 feet tall, and the nests were almost in- 

 variably about 80 feet from the ground. The nest examined contained four 

 "pipped" eggs, which required care in order to save for the collection. In size 

 and color they are similar to what may be found in the eggs of any other form 

 of this genus. The nest was composed of rather small twigs and branches, and 

 lined with very fine twigs. In external measurements its main bulk showed a 

 diameter of 3 feet, with a depth of 1 foot. The inside cup measured 10 inches 

 in diameter by 3 inches in depth. This nest was so strong that my friend, who 

 climbed to it, was able to stand in it and call down to me the conditions in the 

 surrounding nests. These were 24 in number, all containing newly hatched 

 young. 



Kenneth Racey (1921) describes a well-known colony in Stanley 

 Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, as follows : 



It was situated in a very heavily timbered corner and the main nesting site 

 was in a large spruce tree, this tree being about 250 feet in height. We counted 

 37 nests in this single tree, and about 15 young birds were in view, either sitting 

 up in the nests, or perched on the branches of the tree. The young, which ap- 

 peared to be half or three-quarters grown, kept up an incessant squawking, which 

 increased fourfold whenever a parent bird appeard with food. The branches of 

 this spruce tree, except for their tips, were devoid of fohage, and tree trunk, 

 branches, and nests were of a greyish-white color from the birds' droppings. Much 

 of the vegetation close to the ground under the tree was dead and everywhere 

 the ground was littered with pieces of eggsliells, filth, etc. I secured a number 

 of eggshells, some of which were in excellent condition. Two nests and 

 five young dead birds were found on the ground beneath the tree; two of 

 these were about half grown, two about 3 weeks old, and the fifth about 1 

 week or 10 days old. All five birds were more or less decomposed. These nests 

 with the young, had no doubt, been blown down by a recent heavy wind and 

 rain storm. One nest was complete and unbroken, and proved to be a bulky 

 affair and of solid construction, the outer part being constructed of coarse 

 branches about half an inch in diameter, while the inside was well made with fine 

 twigs securely plastered together with refuse and excreta from the young birds. 

 From the size, the nest must have been in use several years, each year having 

 had a little added to it. It was between 3 and 4 feet in diameter outside, while 

 the bowl measured 11 inches wide by 5 inches deep; the whole nest was of a 



