36 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 3 



bright and lustrous as though they had been 

 varnished. To prepare them for the cabinet 

 they should first be treated to a bath of hot 

 water and then the animal extracted with a 

 small hook or forceps. To preserve their nat- 

 ural appearance each shell should be given a 

 liglit coating of glycerine or best olive oil. 



Spoon River has become justly noted for 

 the large size, perfection of form and beauti- 

 ful markings of its Unios or mussels. So 

 many fine ones were to be seen on the sand 

 bars and in the shaHow water along the banks 

 that we could not refrain from selecting a few 

 of the finely marked species. 



The Occident with its beautiful lines of 

 green on variously tinted backgrounds es- 

 pecially attracted our attention. The long 

 slender Rectus with its black exterior and 

 purple interior lay alongside of its relative, 

 the Anodontoides, with its wliite epidermis 

 and rose-tinted interior, and near by was 

 found their cousin, the Gibbosns or hump-back 

 mussel, with its liver-colored nacre or 

 interior. 



Scattered all about in the shallow water 

 were to be seen several species of the pustu- 

 late group of Unio; especially conspicuous 

 were the following species: Lachrymusus 

 or teary mussel; Pustnlasiis, a species covered 

 all over its exterior with warty postnles; 

 Trif/omis or red-meated mussel; Conmtnfi ov 

 horn mussel, zigzag with its wavy lines; 

 Ele(/ans, a truly elegant species, and tlie gi-eat 

 Aaodonta i/randis, or grand mussel, with one 

 exception probably the finest of all the twelve 

 hundred species of the mussel or Unio family. 

 This is only a partial list of the species ob- 

 served and collected. At least a dozen more 

 species found ranging in size from the little 

 Parvus, an inch in length, to the great Uyiio 

 heros of Say, a mussel seven or eight 

 inches long and weighing several pounds. 



Having secured all the shells desired we 

 resumed our journey down tlie river. As we 

 neared the boat landing we were again wit- 

 nesses to a fine exhibition of bird life. Cir- 

 cling high over the village was a great flock of 

 Cooper's Hawks on their way to the sunny lands 

 of the far South. Their rapid gyrations and 

 circlings vividly reminded one of the many 

 and sudden changes revealed by the kaleido- 

 scope. In a few minutes they passed from 

 view beyond the hills to the South. 



Our outing had been a success and we were 

 correspondingly satisfied and happy. 



yV. S. strode, M.I). 



Bernadotte, 111. 



The Herons of Alachua County, 

 Florida. 



Of the sub-family Ardelnce, true Herons, 

 we have eight varieties which are more or 

 less abundant within the limits of our county. 



The notes which I have to refer to aie 

 taken from observations made by myself dur- 

 ing the past five years. By straining the 

 point a little I might to these make the ad- 

 dition of another variety, the Ardea ivardi, 

 making a total of nine varieties, but not being 

 able to substantiate the statement with speci- 

 mens I will not at the present time claim tliis 

 last variety in the avifauna of our county. 



GREAT lU.lIE HKHON. 



This, the largest of all our Herons, is a 

 common resident with us. Unlike some 

 varieties of the smaller Herons it seldom ac- 

 cumidates in large numbers except for breed- 

 ing purposes, and may be seen singly or in 

 pairs, as the case may be, wading around in 

 tlie shallow lakes bent upon obtaining its din- 

 ner of fish or frogs. 



They begin to nest usually early in February, 

 and young may often be seen of consideiable 

 size by the middle of March. 



On March 28, 1890, I visited one of their 

 breeding places and found at this time young 

 birds, many of which were nearly as large as 

 tlieir parents. Not a single egg was found. 

 Tiiere were, perhaps, thirty nests in the 

 lookery, placed around in the cypress trees 

 at various heights. Tlie number of young in 

 a nest was usually three or four. There were 

 no small Herons breeding in tlie rookery, nor 

 have I euer found them breeding in company 

 with the Great Blue. There were several 

 Anhingas and Egrets nesting close by, but 

 nothing smaller. 



While passing through the woods near Levey 

 Lake on March 0, 1891, I was attracted by cries 

 of young Herons, and going in tlie direction 

 from which they came found a company of 

 perhaps twenty pair of Great Blues nesting 

 in the tall trees, which grew in a slew that 

 runs into that lake. All had hatched and 

 the young could be seen standing around on 

 the nests. 



Just north of Ledwarth Lake, in some tall 

 pines, quite a number of Great Blues nest 

 every year. Strange as it may seem this bird 

 is considered a great game bird during the 

 breeding season by the negroes of this locality, 

 and many are annually slain for food. 



