Some Florida Herons 53 



informed that many eggs had been taken from this colony 

 early in the season to be eaten by workmen at a nearby saw- 

 mill, which would account for the varied sizes of the young 

 birds as the nesting birds usually lay repeatedly if the nests 

 are broken up. A number of the oldest juveniles could fly a 

 little, while many were just able to walk from the nest and 

 a few were too small to travel at all. In walking over the 

 bushes both the toes and bill were used in grasping the 

 branches. 



A few Vultures were in the vicinity and two Florida 

 Crackles flew from the bushes. Four White-eyed Towhees 

 were at the outer border of the " Ty-Ty " and a Pine-woods 

 Sparrow sang near at hand. Only a little water remained 

 in the open, central portion of this pond, but the mud and 

 ooze under the bushes made progress uncomfortable. 



But eight or ten adult Little Blue Herons were seen about 

 the pond during a stay of over an hour. The young taken 

 from the nest had stomachs full to distention, the contents 

 being for the most part Fiddler crabs, that must have been 

 carried three to five miles, together with some other aquatic 

 animal matter. One had an entire dry leaf of myrtle with the 

 Fiddlers. The young and adults uttered a few complaining 

 gutteral notes, but on the whole they were not clamorous. 



The nests for the most part were small and frail ; one or 

 two were rather bulky and compact. Some nests were not 

 exceeding five feet from the ground, while others were 

 twelve to fifteen feet up. 



On April 1. 1917, I again visited the " Ty-Ty " pond in 

 Willis Bay and found 100 or more pairs of Little Blue Her- 

 ons present, with four or five pairs of Louisiana Herons, one 

 Green Heron and 40 to 50 White Ibises. 



The Little Blues had nests scattered on the bushes over- 

 hanging the water in the center of the clump, some bushes 

 containing four or five nests each, and these held from one 

 to six eggs each. A few nests were still under construction. 

 I saw no nest supposed to be of the Ibises, Louisiana or 

 (ireen Herons at this time. The water was now fully two 



