i62 Bird - Lore 



curiosity. The Snowies, so far as I observed, remained absolutely silent, but 

 the Louisianas constantly uttered their queer calls, sounding like the quacking 

 of ducks, while the Green and Night Herons were especially noisy, and the 

 scores of young Grackles flitting from bush to bush were never silent for a moment. 



Among the hundreds of nests on each island we found only one which we 

 could say positively belonged to a pair of Snowy Herons. The nests and eggs 

 of the Snowy, Louisiana and Little Blue are practically indistinguishable from 

 one another; and I was not aware of any differences by which we could separate 

 the downy young of these three species, I was unable to form any estimate of 

 the number of Snowy Heron nests on either island. Moreover, the parent birds 

 would not visit the nests while we were nearby, although they often perched 

 on the tops of the bushes in which the nests were situated. On all three of my 

 visits — May 15, 22, and 29 — I saw many nests which ccjntained young birds 

 covered with yellowish white or cream-buff down; and some of these must 

 undoubtedly have been young Snowies, though most of them were probably 

 Louisianas. Probably, also, some of the nests which contained eggs still un- 

 hatched belonged to the Snowies. It is surprising, however, that we found no 

 Snowies among the nesthngs which had passed beyond the downy stage. I can 

 explain this only on the assumption that the Snowies laid their eggs later than 

 the Louisianas and Little Blues and that none of their young had begun to acquire 

 feathers at the time of my last visit on May 29. In only one instance did we find 

 evidence which clearly proved a nest to be the property of a pair of Snowies. 

 This nest was found on the smaller island on May 15 and upon it sprawled a dead 

 Snowy Heron with one unbroken egg beneath the lifeless body. 



Definite measures are being taken in cooperation with the National Associa- 

 tion of Audubon Societies, to ensure the protection of these colonies against 

 plume-hunters. Owing to their situation, the problem of safeguarding the two 

 little islands should not be a difficult one; and there seems to be good reason 

 to hope that the Snowy Heron will succeed in reestablishing itself along the 

 coast. 



GRAY KINGBIRD 

 Photographed on Ragged Island, Bahamas, April, 1907, 

 by George Shiras, 3d 



