EGG CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 69 
young and old are sometimes very tame, but more shy on stormy days 
and more afraid of a man on horseback than on foot. They commence to 
lay about the 15th of May. I have found nests with six, nine and twelve 
in process of incubation. The nests are very rudely and coarsely con- 
structed, being often only a mere hollow in the sand, and never anything 
more than a few blades of long, dead grass and small twigs laid around the 
edges. I have often found the nest in very barren and exposed situations, 
among very low bushes, instead of among the large sage bushes.’’ Five 
eggs collected by Mr. Mead, in my collection, are buff, thickly speckled 
with small round spots of reddish-brown and chocolate. In color they 
very much resemble those of the Wild Turkey. 
495. Nyctardea grisea nevia. 
Black-crowned Night Heron. 
I trust no apology is needed for inserting the following brief account 
of the nesting habits of this bird. It is from the pen of M. B. Griffing, of 
Shelter Island, New York: 
‘“Gardiner’s Island, which is ten miles east of this place (Shelter 
Island) is the nearest breeding place of this species with which I am ac- 
quainted, although it is not many years since there was a heronry here. 
‘“On May 17, 1880, my friend, Mr. Worthington, and myself, visited 
the heronry on Gardiner’s Island, where there were a hundred pairs or 
more, of these herons breeding. The locality isa swampy place, around 
the edge of which grow maple and tupelo trees, in which the nests were 
placed, at heights ranging from ten feet to fifty feet from the ground. They 
were composed entirely of sticks and twigs; the latter were used for the 
lining, and the nests were considerably hollowed. 
According to my observations, four eggs is the usual number laid, more 
often less than more; in fact, out of all the eggs of this species collected 
in the past three years, by Mr. Worthington and myself, there were but 
four sets containing more than four eggs ; of these, three were sets of five 
and one a set of six. 
There were sometimes as many as four nests in one tree, all contain: 
ing eggs. . 
As we entered the swamp the birds arose from the trees and their 
nests, making a great outcry; and as they arose above the trees, the Fish 
Hawks, which were very plenty, dashed down upon them, and the poor birds, 
scared almost out of their wits, plunged back into the swamp, redoubling 
their outcries. This squaking, as it may be called (and I can think of no 
other word so appropriate and expressive), is very ludicrous ; and any one 
who has been ona boat with a number of seasick people, will at once notice 
