OC'TORER 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



153 



limits when we passed an Ospiey"s nest stuck 

 on tlie broken top of an enormous dead pine, 

 the height of which could certainly not have 

 been less than eighty feet. These birds breed 

 all the way over the Cape, and we saw nests 

 at nearly every negi'o clearing, often built 

 quite near the road. 



Brigliton, we found, consisted of one farm 

 house, a grocery store, post-oilice and oyster 

 depot combined, and a large number of the little 

 two-masted, flat-bottomed sharpies so much 

 used by the oystermen who make this place 

 their headquarters. These boats are ex- 

 cellently adapted for use in the shallow 

 channels inside the islands, while notwith- 

 standing their light draft they are so seaworthy 

 tliat their owners do not hesitate to take trips 

 outside of considerable length. 



A bargain was quickly struck witli one of 

 the boatmen, who in answer to our eager 

 inquiries as to wliether there were still any 

 birds on the island replied that there were 

 " heaps o' huks' an' crankys' nests," and 

 further intimated that lie could laml us in 

 their very midst. 



The trees where tlii^ liirds were breeding 

 could be dimly made out some three miles 

 away, and by the time we had gotton two- 

 tliirds over we could easily distinguish the 

 immense nests of the Fish Hawks. ITjion 

 landing we found that the colony extended 

 over a space in the middle of the island per- 

 haps one-third of a mile square. Gazing 

 upon such a scene for the first time the sight 

 was to us an intensely interesting one. The 

 big birds were rising from their nests on every 

 side, until, as we got well into their midst, the 

 air seemed filled witli the long legs and necks 

 of the Herons and the shaij). narrow wings of 

 the Hawks. 



The two species seem to dwell together in 

 the greatest harmony, the Herons being much 

 the more numerous. The Hawk.s' nests were 

 s<'attere(l indiscriminately throughout the 

 whole colony, this being doubtless due to the 

 fact that they build only on the tall, dead pine 

 stubs, having neither bark (u- limbs, and of 

 these there were comparatively few. 



In the construction of their nests the birds 

 showed a singular uniformity, eacli pair 

 having a large mass of rubbish stuck on the 

 very top of their stub. There seemed to be 

 no exceptions to this rule, and as the stumps 

 averaged a good forty feet in height, collecting 

 any number of -eggs became an exceedingly 

 fatiguing occupation, and often after a diffi- 

 cult climb up a stump so rotten- that the 



spurs .slipped at every step we found it quite 

 impo.ssible to obtain the eggs as there was no 

 way of ;/eUing upfront beneath the nest itself, 

 which loomed above us seldom less than five 

 feet in height and about as broad. It is remark- 

 able that all these nests are not blown down 

 by the heavy winter gales, as each year new 

 material is added, until they get so tall and 

 top-hea%'y that a slight push seemed sufficient 

 to send the whole mass crashing down. In 

 one case, while digging at the side of a nest, 

 I nearly pulled the wiiole structure over onto 

 my head, an event which, had it occurred, 

 would have brought my oological pursuits to 

 a sudden close indeed. The number of eggs 

 found was three in every case except 

 one set of four and some fresh sets of two, 

 probably incomplete. lu the sticks at the 

 bottom of one nest that held two eggs with 

 that rare and beautiful purple tinge, a Purple 

 (irackle had made her home and laid four 

 eggs. 



After two hours of this work we were quite 

 willing to take a rest before paying our re- 

 spects to the Herons, for the whole place was 

 covered with water knee-deep, and we were 

 chilled through. It was probably the breaking 

 in of so much salt water tliat had killed all the 

 trees in the vicinity. Though most of the 

 trees on which the Herons nested were dead 

 they had not yet had time to decay or lose 

 their branches, like those monopolized by the 

 Ospreys, a fortunate cireiunstance for us, as 

 it made the climbing much easier, and by a 

 little care we could select tiees containing 

 three, four or five of the big platform nests. 

 These were always placed well up in the tree, 

 usually near the ends of the branches, some- 

 times within reach from the main trunk. 

 While conforming to the "platform" type in 

 the main, they were, nevertheless, large sub- 

 stantial structures with hollows quite deep 

 enough to prevent the eggs from rolling out, 

 even during such a stiff breeze as was blowing 

 at the time of our vi.sit. 



While the eggs of the Ospreys were all 

 fresh those of the Herons were considerably 

 in<ubated. The commonest number was four, 

 many held five, while some were sitting on 

 three. The actions of the two species while we 

 were examining their nests was noticeably 

 different, for while the Hawks would fly boldly 

 within a few yards the Herons took pains to 

 keep at a most respectful distance high 

 overhead. As these birds are seldom dis- 

 turbed the colony is on the increase, presenting 

 in this respect a notable exception to the 



