EAKTSCh] herons of the district of COLUMBIA 1 O9 



When I visited the heron colony for the first time, it occurred to 

 me that some light might be shed on one or more of these unsolved 

 problems, at least so far as the present species is concerned, by 

 marking the successive broods of young birds for a number of years. 

 I explained the situation to Dr. F. W. True, Head Curator of 

 Biology in the National Museum, who agreed to procure the neces- 

 sary bands. These were inscribed " Return to Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution," and bore the year and a serial number. Unfortunately no 

 aluminum tubing of the desired caliber could be obtained at once, 

 hence the bands arrived so late in the season that only twenty-three 

 herons of the entire heronry were marked. 



These bands are mere rings, of extremely light weight, large 

 enough to fit comfortably about the tarsus of the adulf bird. The 

 fact that the bands are closed necessitates very early application, 

 since the foot soon grows too large to permit the ring to slip over it. 

 Once on, there is little danger of its ever being dislodged, for the 

 lieron's toes are always partly spread as he clings to the twigs of his 

 nest. Only one return resulted from the 1902 marking of Night 

 Herons ; this was a specimen shot September 24, 1902, at Abington, 

 Maryland, about fifty-five miles northeast of Washington. 



During the present year (1903) both colonies have changed 

 quarters. One of the colonies selected an adjacent hillside where 

 €ighty-nine nests have been counted. The location of the other is still 

 unknown, since lack of time prevented a thorough search for it. 

 No complete systematic survey was made of the known colony, 

 which was in a mixed forest. All but seven of the nests were placed 

 in pines, the others in oaks. Four trees harbored two nests each. 



Seventy-eight young birds were banded in 1903, five of which have 

 already been heard from. The first was captured July 19 in a 

 street in Leesburg, Virginia ; the second was caught July 20 in a fish- 

 trap on the Potomac below Washington ; the third was shot at 

 Pennsville, New Jersey, July 18; while the fourth and fifth were 

 found dead under the tree in which the young had been marked. The 

 birds were almost full grown, and there are strong indications that 

 the last two specimens had been stoned to death by ruthless boys 

 before they left their nesting tree. 



I visited this colony on August 10, and was surprised to find about 

 a dozen large young present with their parents. These must have 

 been a second brood, raised, perhaps, by the birds whose first nest 

 had been plundered by some small boys after incubation was well 

 advanced. In the preceding year (1902) a large number of the 

 eggs were carried ofif from the smaller of the two colonies and the 



