226 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



found that the Herons were there and the nests extended back in the 

 marsh for a distance of more than a mile. They were from three feet 

 to several rods apart. In one place I saw four nests all within a ten 

 foot circle, but generally we could not see more than two at a time, from 

 the boat, because the grass and cane were so tall. Most of the nests 

 were made of coarse swamp grass while some had a foundation of 

 sticks, but they must have been brought from a distance of about three 

 tniles as there was no brush of any kind within less than that distance. 

 There must have been fully a thousand nests, most of them containing 

 four or five eggs while a few had young. 



In this marsh we also found breeding Ducks, Coots, Gallinules, 

 Bitterns, Least Bitterns, Pied-billed Grebes, Phalaropes, Blackbirds and 

 Marsh Wrens. 



Photo by Delos Hatch. 



NEST AND E(i(iS OF NKiHT HERON. 



[This shows an unusual nesting site on the ground. Thousands of birds were nesting in 

 .the same marsh. They u.sually nest in. trees.] 



