Notes on the Habits of the Breeding Water Birds 71 



in considerable numbers in close proximity. In measuring 

 a large number of eggs tliose of the former may average a 

 fraction of an incli larger, but both, of course, have the 

 identical tint of bluish green. The same difficulty of i<len- 

 tification applies to the eggs of the Snowy Egret, as has 

 been mentioned in the account of that species, and the 

 problem before the collector of the eggs of these three 

 hei'ons is one solved only by " watchful waiting." 



If either of these herons winters it must be in exceed- 

 ingly small numbers, and these must be widely scattered 

 over the immense chain of heavily forested islands and 

 hammocks along the coast, for I have failed to detect 

 either of tliem in the county during the months of De- 

 cember, January and Februar3^ I know of no othei' lo- 

 cality h\ Chatham county where they breed, but it is 

 probable that small nundjers nest on some of the isolated 

 hammocks which abound on this coast. 



Butoridcs virescens virescens — Green Heron. 



While this heron is really abundant, the localities at 

 which it breeds are widely separated and most of them 

 are not easy of access. Although colonies are the rule, now 

 and then an isolated nest is found, and, while it prefers 

 localities where there is water, it is often found nesting 

 in dry woods. In a dense thicket of stunted water oaks 

 growing close to the margin of the salt marsh a short dis- 

 tance from the summer home of G. R. Rossignol on Wil- 

 mington island, large numbers of Green Herons annually 

 rear their young. On April 18, 1915, nearly ever\^ nest 

 here held its full complement of eggs. On May 30, 1915, in 

 a cluster of oaks growing in damp woods near the Herb 

 river and not far from a much travelled highway, I noted 

 a single nest, within arms reach, containing three eggs. 

 These are my earliest and latest dates respectively when 

 fresh eggs were noted. These birds breed in considerable 

 numbers on Sylvan's island on the Herb river some three 

 miles from the tow^n of Tunderbolt, placing their nests in 

 the extreme tops of tall ])ine saplings. Probably the most 

 populous colony in the county is near Lazaretto station, on 



