176 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



fore much less destructive than the bu'd photographer. The safest 

 time to practice bird photography, and the best time too to get good 

 results, is when the young are partially grown, when there are no 

 eggs for the crows to steal and when the young are too large for the 

 vultures to swallow. Probably, when not disturbed by human be- 

 ings, the herons' nests are constantly guarded by one of each pair. 

 Otherwise, it is hard to conceive how many birds can be raised suc- 

 cessfully, where fish crows are as common as they are in Florida or 

 where great-tailed grackles abound as they do in Texas. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Southern and eastern United States, Central America, the 

 West Indies, and northern South America. 



Breeding range. — North to Lower CaHfornia (Margarita Island and 

 La Paz); Sinaloa (Mazatlan); Texas (Brownsville, Corpus Christi, 

 Galveston, and Houston); Louisiana (Black Bayou, Jackson, and 

 Lake St. John); Mississippi (near Natchez, Rodney, and probably 

 Biloxi) ; Alabama (Petit Bois Island and Autauga ville) ; Florida (Tal- 

 lahassee) ; and Virginia (formerly Clarkesville) . East to North Caro- 

 lina (Orton Lake, formerly Beaufort); South Carolina (Washoe 

 Preserve on the Santee River, Charleston, and Frogmore) ; Georgia 

 (Savannah, Darien, Blackboard Island, and St. Marys) ; Florida (St. 

 Augustine, Mosquito Inlet, and Titusville) ; Bahama Islands (Great 

 Abaco, Berry Islands, New Providence, San Salvador, Mariguana, 

 and North, Grand, and East Caicos Islands); Porto Rico; and prob- 

 ably the Islands off the coast of Venezuela (Aruba and Bonaire). 

 South to probably the coast of Venezuela (Aruba and Bonaire) ; and 

 Panama (Rio Sabana and Lion Hill). West to Nicaragua (San Juan 

 del Sur and Momotombo) ; Oaxaca (Tehuantepec) ; Colima (Colima 

 and Manzanillo) ; Tepic (Las Penas Islands) ; Sinaloa (Mazatlan) ; 

 and Lower California (San Jose Island, La Paz, and Margarita 

 Island). 



Winter range. — North to Lower California (La Paz) ; Sinaloa (Ma- 

 zatlan) ; rarely New Mexico (Gila River) ; Tamaulipas (Matamoros) ; 

 rarely Louisiana (VermiUion Bay) ; Mississippi (Biloxi) ; and South 

 Carolina (Charleston) . East to South Carolina (Charleston) ; Georgia 

 (Savannah and Darien); Florida (St. Augustine, Mosquito Inlet, and 

 Titusville) ; the Bahama Islands (San Salvador and the Caicos Is- 

 lands); and probably other islands of the West Indies. South prob- 

 ably to the Lesser Antilles; the northern coast of South America and 

 Panama (Rio Indio) . West to Guerrero (Acapulco); JaKsco (Ocat- 

 lan); Sinaloa (Mazatlan); and Lower California (La Paz). 



Migration. — The Louisiana heron is only partially migratory as it 

 "winters plentifully as far north as South Carolina. On the coast of 

 Louisiana and Texas, however, it is only seen there rarely at this 



