THE O0LOG1ST 



35 



my approach, but this time they were 

 slower in leaving, circling around for 

 some time and peering down into the 

 bushes. 



The following day I obtained a pair 

 of high boots and determined to invest- 

 igate. The water was deeper than I ex- 

 pected and the bottom, soft and treach- 

 erous, but after several attempts I suc- 

 ceeded in making my way to the bushes. 

 Here the depth of the water increased 

 and I was only able to cross one end. 



I had hardly gone ten feet into the 

 bushes when I found the first nest. The 

 old Heron seemed loath to leave and 

 when obliged to, went only to an old 

 dead tree near by. From this perch she 

 sat looking down at mo, her glossy back 

 and shoulders gleaming in the sun. 



The nest was some five or six feet 

 above the water in the branches of one 

 of the bushes. It was made of sticks 

 and twigs and contained four greenish 

 eggs. As one of them was already "pip- 

 ped" I left them and proceeded to see 

 what was before me. A few feet further 

 on I' found another nest, but empty. 

 This one was only about three feet up 

 in the bushes. At this point I found I 

 had formed such a firm attachment with 

 the muddy bottom that I had great diffi- 

 culty in proceeding. At length, how- 

 ever, after getting nothing but a couple 

 of wet feet, I managed to reach a large 

 tree, one of whose branches afforded a 

 resting place just above the water. 

 From here I looked around and discov- 

 ered a nest only a short distance from 

 me. It was placed in the top branches 

 of a laurel bush, about eight feet up. It 

 was a loosely made structure of twigs 

 and almost flat. It contained four near- 

 ly fresh eggs, which I took. They 

 measured 1.61x1.15, 1.55x1.13, 1.62x1.17, 

 1.60x1.20. 



I only found one more nest, though I 

 have no doubt there were others as I 

 was able to examine only a small por- 

 tion of the place. This last nest was 

 somewhat larger than the others and 



contained four partially incubated eggs. 

 They are somewhat smaller than the 

 other set and not quite so elongated. 

 They measure as follows-. 1.60x1.15, 

 1.50x1.12, 1 51x1.16, 1.47x1.17. 



When I reached "terra firma" again I 

 watched for some time the returning 

 Herons as they first circled around or 

 alighted in the top of some tree and 

 then slowly dropped into the bushes; 

 then as it was beginning to grow dark I 

 started for home. 



Karl B. Sqcires, 

 Green port, N. Y. 



Sterna on Weepeckets- 



By C. C. Purdum, M. D. 



The "Islands of the Weepeckets," 

 three in number, lie in the waters of 

 Buzzards Bay, and form a short chain, 

 extending in a general northeasterly 

 and southwesterly direction, being sep- 

 arated only by a narrow body of water 

 from the large island Naushawn, which 

 is the easterly extremity of the chain of 

 islands dividing the waters of Buzzards 

 Bay from those of Vinyard Sound. The 

 inner or most southerly of these islands 

 is the largest of the group, and contains 

 about six acres of ground which rises 

 by a broad sandy beach out of the sea. 

 The top is covered by a variety of rank 

 grass, wild strawberry and milkweed, 

 but no trees, or bushes larger than those 

 of the wild huckleberry are to be notic- 

 ed. The eastern side of this island is 

 made up of the broad sandy beach be- 

 fore spoken of, and upon it the Terns 

 which breed upon this and the other 

 two islands, may be seen in great num- 

 bers, standing in perfectly quiet ranks, 

 taking a sun bath with evident er joy- 

 ment. The wes f ern side of the island 

 is of a more diversified nature; the 

 sandy stretch of beach being here brok- 

 en up by rocky intervals and huge 

 boulders, while in places the rank vege- 

 tation runs almost to the water's edge, 

 being separated from it in some places 



