116 BULLETIN 135^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



greyish-white color as if it had been whitewashed. The Stanley Park heronry 

 has during the past few weeks become one of the points of interest in the park, 

 and hundreds of residents of this city as well as visitors now stop to have a look 

 at the curious bird colony, none of the members of which appear to be in the 

 least disturbed, however many people gather about to watch them. 



J. A. Munro has sent me a photograph of this interesting tree. 

 He vsrrites to me that there is another rookery at North Vancouver 

 which is — 



built in a giant, half-dead Sitka spruce, which is 6 feet in diameter at the base 

 and is situated half a mile from the inlet, on a logged-off hillside, and nearly 

 opposite the Stanley Park heronry. The nests, which numbered 18 on June 6, 

 1923, are 80 feet or more from the ground and can be seen only from a distance, 

 as thick deciduous second growth completely hides the crown of the trees from 

 one standing below. 



Major Brooks writes to me : 



The nesting is alway in large colonies, usually in heavy stands of Douglas fir 

 or other conifers. Probably the largest heronry in the province is near Qualicum 

 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, although the best known one is in Stanley 

 Park, the playground of the city of Vancouver. Up to 1905 the only heronry 

 that I could hear of in the Lower Fraser Valley was near the mouth of the Stave 

 River; at present there is at least one other, a large one of recent occupation at 

 Chilliwack some 30 miles further up the valley. This is notable also in being 

 in a grove of large cottonwood trees instead of the usual conifers. 



Eggs. — The eggs of this heron are not distinguishable in general ap- 

 pearance from those of other great blue herons. The measurements 

 of 17 eggs average 57.4 by 38.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the 

 four extremes measure 68.8 by 45; 65.7 by 48; 50.7 by 35; and 57.9 

 by 29 millimeters. 



Young. — Mr. Bowles's notes contain the following interesting 

 observations on the behavior of the young: 



I was surprised at first to see a number of dead young, in excellent condition 

 of health, on the ground under the nests, but the reason for this soon became 

 evident after we had seated ourselves out of sight. The young in each nest were 

 seen to vary greatly in size, the largest one taking complete possession of the nest 

 while the smaller ones stood around on the branches that supported it. Occasion- 

 ally a small one would evidently get tired and try to get back into the nest for 

 a rest, but he was promptly driven out by terrific jabs of the spearlike beak of 

 his big brother, or perhaps sister. It was then that I had one of the most inter- 

 esting exhibitions that has ever been given me in the pursuit of ornithology. 

 Occasionally the younger one was hit so hard that he would be knocked com- 

 pletely off his balance, and would be hanging from the limb by one foot head 

 downward. There he would hang for a few seconds, and then reach his head 

 and long skinny neck up over the limb, by which means he would pull himself 

 up until he could get a wing over. He would then draw himself back to his 

 original position on the limb with a surprising degree of ease, making the ob- 

 server think at once that they can not be so very far removed in relationship 

 from the mammals. 



Food. — Referring to the food of the northwest coast heron, Mr. 

 Bowles says : 



