THE OOLOGIST 



17 



two months later of the young. The 

 Herons arrive here from the South in 

 the first days of April and start at 

 once to look over their previous nests, 

 repairing and strengthening them for 

 their occupancy. In the middle of 

 April they start laying eggs. About 

 a month later, the young appear and 

 now the work of getting nourishment 

 for them is no easy matter. They have 

 to fly as far as fifty miles, and can 

 be seen near Grand Island and Navy 

 Island standing in Niagara River, 

 watching for fish, with which they re- 

 turn to the young to satisfy their rav- 

 enous appetites. The long flight is 

 necessary because it is impossible for 

 them to get down to the ground in the 

 heronry on account of the dense shrub- 

 bery. 



A continuous croaking of the old 

 birds is heard. It takes fully from 

 two to two and a half months until 

 the young can take care of themselves, 

 and to bring them down out cf their 

 nests is no easy problem. 



The bark of these elms is from one 

 to one and a quarter inches thick, 

 making it necessary to plant the spurs 

 very deep to sustain the weight of 

 the body. During the time we were 

 up to the nests, the Herons circled 

 above us with loud croaking, alight- 

 ing occasionally on some high point to 

 watch our maneuvers. Great care is 

 necessary for a])proaching the nest 

 from below, as the slightest distur- 

 bance of the nest brings down a show- 

 er of the dry white droppings of the 

 birds, which is extremely irritating 

 in case it reaches an eye. As we ap- 

 proach home, the female leaves the 

 nest and fliles in wide circles over our 

 her.ds, croaking defiance to the intrud- 

 er. 



To get the young Herons out of the 

 nest is extremely difficult, as they are 

 large and awkard birds, and cling ten- 

 aciously to every branch within reach. 



Nearly all the Zoos in the United 

 States have in the past been provided 

 with birds from this Heronry, and 

 when i)roperly treated their existence 

 can be maintained in captivity for a 

 number of years. 



The Herons of this section only 

 raise one brood a year. 



It is hoped that every reader of this 

 articles will use every effort to pre- 

 serve this nesting site of these stately 

 birds. 



OTTOMAR REINECKE. 



Books Received. 



Birds of the Leeward Islands, by 



Prof. Charles B. Corey, 1909. 



This is a pamphlet review of the 

 work of Mr. .lohn F. Ferry upon these 

 islards and contains lists relating to 

 the various islands visited aggregating 

 161 species. It is issued by ^he Field 

 Museum of Natui-al History. It is 

 gotten up with the usual evidence of 

 care-taking accuracy which character- 

 izes all of Professor Corey's work, 

 and will be a reference manual relat- 

 ing to the ornithology of these islands 

 for years to come. 



Catalogue of Canadian Birds, by 

 .John Macown and .James M. Macown; 

 Government Printing Office, Ottawa, 

 Canada, 1909 — issued by the Depart- 

 ment of Mines, Geological Survey 

 Branch. 



This splendid work is a re-issuance 

 of the catalogue of Canadian Birds 

 originally issued in parts as follows: 



Part 1, 1900: Part 2, 1903; Part 3, 

 1904, by Prof. .John Macown. Though 

 much of it is re-written and all of it 

 is brought down to date, containing as 

 it does 761 pages, is a monumental 

 work upon the subject of Canadian 

 Birds, by far the most complete now 

 in existence. It is a splendid produc- 

 tion and indeed a highly valuable ad- 

 dition To the literature of that sub.1ect; 



