Xolis on tin liird.s. :\'2\) 



lint the old ^Maplo Swamp, like most, ol" (lie s\vaiii|ts and w Il.-md jjonds 



which a half c(Mdury a^o alTordcd a suitahh' fiiviroiimcnl I'm- s.i many 

 spocics of the native fauna and flora, now alas! all hut extiud. and winch 

 added so much of real interest to the nature lover, is now a thint,' of tiic jiast. 

 It has heen ditched and drained; the attractive forest, undcil>rnsli, and 

 aquatic plants have fiiven way to rectangular fields of corn and ( aliliauc. The 

 JKSthetic has succumhed to the utilitarian. There will he mmc corn and 

 hogs but less of beauty and tin- ai>itr<'<iation thereof. 



The same is true of the uplands. The j;reat forests arc .i:"iii' : tlic.\ iia\(! 

 been cut off and there remain only here and there occasional '20. ."!(> or 40- 

 acre wood-lots, pitifully mutilated an<l crippled remnants of the once nuKlity 

 forests, the most maf;nilicent hardwood forests the world has ever seen, 

 wliich clothed practically the entire state of Indiana 75 years ajro. 



The only other heronry which I knew in Carroll County was in Adams 

 Township, near the north line of the county, .•itmnt six miles nortii df Hie 

 Wabash River and alioiu the same distance east of tlic Ti|ipccanoc. 1 ncNcr 

 visited this rookery in th(> breedins; season, liul T li;ivc. when drivini: by in 

 the winters of ISS'i to 1SS5, seen the iireat nests, nearly a hundred of tlicm, 

 in the tops of the maple, cottonwood, and swamp ash trees. 



Definite dates for Carroll County are as follows: June 12, 1882. many 

 at the Maple Swamp ; May 21, 1SS3, again at tlie Maple Swamp where many 

 were seen : April 8, 1884, day snowy, one .seen fljing north just west of 

 Delphi ; February 14, 1885, while driving from Pittsburg to Delphi in the 

 evening I saw one flying up the Wabash, the day being cold, the snow very 

 deep, making excellent sleighing, and the I'iver was covered with ice except 

 in a few places: March first, one seen near David Musselman's trying to 

 reach Deer Creek in the face of a strong northwest wind: and March 18. 

 saw one on Deer Creek east of Camden. 



In Vigo County I never knew of any rookeries, but there were doubtless 

 some small breeding colonies along the Wabash. A few solitary imlixiduals 

 might be seen along the river any day between INIarch and Xoveudier. 



In Monroe County, whicli lias no ponds or considerable streams, the (Jrcat 

 Blue Heron, like all' other waders and water birds, is not at all common. 

 One might be seen now and then along Beanblossom Creek or Salt Creek ; 

 noted March 28, 1888. 



44. Herodias EGREiTA (Gmeliu). egret. (1^^) 



Hare: probably only a fall visitant. As is well known, this and other 

 species of herons are apt to wander some distance from their regular hab- 

 itat in the fall, and it may be that all those we have seen in Vigo County 

 in late summer and early fall had wandered up from lower down the 

 Wabash River. Each fall from two or three to a half dozen weri' seen 

 along the river both above and beloAV Terre Haute. Greenfield Bayou, 10 

 miles below Terre Haute, was a favorite place. One was shot on Deer Creek 

 near Camden. Carroll County. August first, 1884. by my friend Frank C. 

 Porter, of Camden. Years ago. small fiocks of six to ten were occasionally 

 seen fiying north in the spring and a few were seen eacli fall from .Tuly to 

 Septemlier. 



I have seen Egrets occasionally along the ciHM'ks in Monroe County, but 

 only in si»ring. (hw was killed near I'.loomington. Ajiril IP. is.s7. 



