THE OOLOGIST. 



•^03 



I then knew I was approachiug the 

 Herourv. As I drew near the sounds 

 increased and anybody not knowing 

 what they were coming to would have 

 supposed there was a kennel of dogs 

 in the neighborhood, such a soimd of 

 barks, yelps, squeals and snarls as 

 arose from the swamp in which the 

 Heronry was located. The swamp 

 was not a very wet one and I was soon 

 standing in the midst of the Colony. 

 On every side as far as the e^'e could 

 reach were tall white maples in each of 

 which there was from one to tive nests 

 of the Black-crowned Night Heron and 

 nearly all of these were being used. I 

 calculated the number of nests to be 

 not le.ss than two-thousand tivehundred 

 and probably more. The Herons made 

 (|uite a row at tir.st, but soon quieted 

 llnwn. 



The first tree I climbed contained four 

 nests, three of which ccjntained four 

 eggs and the fourth one, (|uite a nice 

 baker's dozen. From my position in 

 this tree I could see about one-himdred 

 nests, all of which contained eggs, and 

 a short distance on my left was a crows 

 nest containing four nearly fully tledged 

 j-oung (;rows. 



The nests varieil greatly in size 

 and shape, some being mere platforms 

 of sticks; indeed in some ca.ses the 

 nests were so Hat that a heavy wind 

 would have blown the eggs out of the 

 nest. Others however, were consider- 

 ai)ly hollowed out and of quite large 

 size. 



I obtained in the course of the day 

 about one hunilred eggs, some of vvhi<'h 

 were fresh but in most cases the incu- 

 bation was advanced. Thu trees were 

 not easy to climb being small in di- 

 ameter but regular sky-scrapers as re- 

 gards height, and when an Ocilogist is 

 I swinging al)out at the top of a thin tree, 

 he is perfectly willing to say that Terra 

 Firma suits him better. 



The nests averaged forty feet with 

 extremes of twenty and sixty-live. 



One nest was not unfrequently placed 

 directly above another with only a few 

 feet of space between them. 



While up one tree I dropped an egg 

 anil supposing it broken thought 

 nothing more about it, but on return- 

 ing to the ground I found the egg un- 

 injured buried in the soft mud at the 

 bottom of the tree. It landed directly 

 on its larger end. The eggs varied 

 greatly in size, color and shape. Some 

 were pale blue in color, others a blue 

 green, and still others of a green color. 

 Some were long and rounded evenly at 

 both ends, others were short and point- 

 ed, some were quite large, othersMgain 

 quite small, average size 2.10 by 1.4.-). 

 The average set was four, frequently 

 three, sometimes two, rarely one or 

 tive. The si.-ts of one were either caus- 

 ea by the eggs falling from the nest or 

 on account of the heavy rains, cold 

 weather and late spring. 



Of several thousands of sets examined 

 during the past few years, by me, there 

 was not one set containing six eggs. 



ROUKKT C. WOOUIIOLSE, 



New York City. 



Notes from Yamhill CouDty, Oregon. 



'J'lie following notes of l^Ui will gi\e 

 eastern and soutern collectors an idea 

 of the commonest eggs to be found in 

 this locality. 



A|)ril 28. Two neighbors and myself 

 took a stetof thirteen eggs of the Oregon 

 Rutled Grouse, (liondun unibcUus sahiui) 

 commonly called Pheasant." The nest 

 also contained two eggs of the Mongo- 

 lian Pheasant. 



The nest was a shallow hollow among 

 the leaves im«ler a brush heap, in a 

 patch of vine maple, not very wtdl cou- 

 eealed. The eggs are; |)ure white spot- 

 ted sjiaringly with light brown. 



May 7. Took a set of four eggs of 

 Oregon To\\\u'.e (I'ipifo 7nuruliUits ore- 

 (/onus) comuKUily called Mountain Rob- 

 in. Incubation r<dvaneed. The nest 



