54 



THK OOLOGIST. 



Blue Heron. But as it was on the east 

 side of the swamp, and we on the west 

 we decided to explore the swamp for- 

 est a few miles north and return via the 

 rookery. But for various reasons (bet- 

 ter explained by Verdi) we failed to 

 connect, for after an hour's compara- 

 tively easy tramp, we came to the edge 

 of the tamaracks. Just the place for 

 Sharp-shinned Hawks, thought I, while 

 my companion scrambled over fallen 

 trees and tangled vines, with every 

 Sense on the alert looking for some- 

 thing rare. I want to say right here 

 that the rarest thing we saw was birds 

 nests. We spent nearly two hours 

 jumping logs, etc., and another hoKr 

 trying to get out, also expressing our 

 opinion as to what we wouldn't do 

 again when we did get out. At last we 

 came to a deep muddy cieek which ran 

 through the swamp and in order to vis- 

 it the Herons' rookery we had to cross 

 it. The water was icy so wading was 

 out of the question. However we soon 

 found a small barkless tree, which had 

 fallen across the creek. I had nearly 

 aci'oss reached the opposite bank when 

 V. started to walk over. When nearly 

 across his feet suddenly parted letting 

 him down straddle the tree, both legs 

 dangling in the water which so disturb- 

 ed my equilibrium that I did likewise. 

 However we soon slid over and now for 

 that rookery, says V. Another hard 

 tramp and we came to the edge of the 

 swamp. We were obliged to climb a 

 tree to get our bearings. The rookery 

 loomed up half a mile away so we 

 headed directly for it. But after enter- 

 ing the dense swamp forest we again 

 went astray, and no rookery could we 

 tied. So as it began to rain harder we 

 started for the bicycles. But we were 

 not out of the wilderness yet, and 1 

 finally climbed a tree which gave me a 

 view of the hills. I informed Verdi 

 that if we kept on as we were going we 

 would get out by walking 10 miles or 

 so. "But which way do we want to 



gov" shouted Verdi. "To the left," 

 was my reply and that's about the last 

 I saw of him until we reached terra fir- 

 ma. Wet and fatigued, we started 

 home with only a set of Song Sparrow 

 as a memento of our tiip. 



However, as the week and my fatigue 

 passed away I decided to make another 

 attempt. As May 13 dawned bright 

 and clear I bestrode my wheel and 

 started. Arriving at the swamp I lo- 

 cated the tree with five nests and by 

 keeping the sun over my right shoulder 

 I had no difficulty in reaching the rook- 

 ery. But what a contrast! A week 

 ago it was dark and gloomy, now the 

 sunshine penetrated every nook, and I 

 could hear the scream of Red-tail 

 Hawks in the distance. Blue Jay's 

 shrill cry could be heard, while count- 

 less Warblers and Vireos tilled the air 

 with melody. 



Reaching the tree with five nests I 

 soon had my climbers on, noticing 

 meanwhile that the tree was about 

 three feet in diameter, limbless to the 

 nests which wei"e up about 70 feet As 

 I neared the nests the sitting Herons 

 Hew oil' while the whole tribe made the 

 woods ring with their coarse "grrah." 

 Three of the nests contained sets of five 

 eggs, one set of six, and one of seven 

 eggs which is an unusual large set As 

 one of the eggs was a runt I believe the 

 clutch was laid by one bird; There 

 were about 30 nests, all in high ash 

 trees and composed solely of large and 

 small sticks, except in one instance; 

 there was a lining of some .^^traw. Five 

 eggs was the average per set. six not 

 unusual and only one set of four. In- 

 cubation advanced, and I should judge 

 that the Herons began laying the last 

 week of April. 



The (ireat Blue Herons obtain most of 

 their food in the creek and marshes 

 near the rookery. But their supply 

 seems to get short, for as the j'oung be- 

 gin to mature and demand more food 

 the Herons begin to visit both Canan- 

 daigua and Keuka Lake, a distance of 

 eight miles. C. F. Stone. 



