5S 



(•.•i;i('(l tlicni cr.im's. A trw days later. May 1J4. T.ill. I >r. I',. S. I'ottcr, 

 Siiperiutcndfiit ol' the Mariciii County •Asylum t\)v the liisaiu' at .lulietta. 

 very kindly drove me to it. This heronry is situated in Section 12:!. Town- 

 shij) 5, Kan.iie 15. in llancocl^ Comity. Indiana. Tlie land is owned liy 

 Anton Sehihlmeier. who eame to it witli liis fatlier in l>o7. ai d it !r;^ 

 been in tlie family ever since. The herons were tirst seen about five years 

 before my visit. They occnpied a timber tract of 70 acres, which remains 

 to this day nuicli as it was when the piesent owner came to it. It is a 

 splendid bit of the primeval forest, containinii some of the finest spccimci s 

 of the characteristic trees of this latitude. No amount of money can 

 tenii)t this old pioneer to imrt with bis biu' trees, wliicb be loves so dearly. 

 Neither will he permit a hunter (jr other persuu who is li ible tu disturb 

 the birds upon the prennses. 



When the herons tirst occupied these woods tht>y built their lu-sts in 

 sycamore and other trees. More recently they have chosen and are occu- 

 py iiiiz: the largest oak trees. 



At the time of my visit the leaves bad come out so the o;p'irtnn'ty f a- 

 (ibservation was not as p)od as it bad been a little earlier. I »r. INtter 

 reported that on a former visit that spi-iui: be bad counted sixty-live nests. 

 One tre(> contained thirteen. Those who have attempted to count tbem 

 tbiidv there are about sixty birds. If this is true, some of the nests are old 

 ones not occuiiii'd. Mr. Scbildnieier. who is ;i cai-eful ebserver. sa.\s t'li' ' 

 return every siiriiii; with tiie lirst few warm days in .March. He has seen 

 tAvelve to bfteen at one tim(> feedini:- in the wet meadows alouir I>ne run, 

 wliicb flows tbrenu'li the farm. When I visited the locality the Ci^iis were 

 batcbed. The youn.i:; were makiu.ti' a noise and v'J:ii shells were eoniniou 

 inider the lar^e trees bearinu' the nests. 



To one who knows what lo look for. these birds nia\- be seen not only 

 by travelei's alouL;- the I'rookville mad. iiut also I'roiu the steam and trai- 

 lion cars. iMmbtless the nests are also visible when the leaves ai-e off the 

 trees. I am indebted to Paul Shideler for a ver.v ,i;ood pboto-rapli taken 

 a short lime before my visit. It is printed berewith. 



