314 General Notes. [f^^ 



which has an area of about four acres, is probably not less than one 

 thousand, the number of Snowy Herons here being estimated at about 

 two hundred. 



Hundreds of nests were found in the low ' sparkle berry ' bushes, yuccas 

 and pahnettoes, but o\\dng to the close similarity of the nests, eggs and 

 downy yoimg of the Snowy, Louisiana, and Little Blue Herons, I was 

 unable to determine the number of Snowy Heron nests. Many of the 

 nests which contained eggs or downy, yellowish white young probably 

 belonged to the Snowy, though in only one instance — - when I found a 

 Snowy dead upon a nest with one imbroken egg beneath the lifeless body 

 — could I be sure that any particular nest was not the property of a pair 

 of Louisianas or Little Blues. It is surprising, moreover, that we found no 

 Snowy Herons among the nestlings which had passed beyond the downy 

 stage. The only possible explanation seems to be that the young Louis- 

 ianas and Little Blues were fm^ther advanced than the young Snowies 

 and that the latter had not yet begmi to acquire feathers at the time of 

 my last \'isit on May 29. This view is supported by the fact that the 

 testes of three adult males collected on that date for the Charleston Mu- 

 seiun and for Mr. A. T. Wayne were very large — as I am informed by Mr. 

 WajTie who prepared the specimens. 



The Museum is taking definite measures in cooperation with the South 

 Carolina Audubon Society to ensure the protection of these colonies. 

 The problem oi safeguarding these two little islands should not be a diffi- 

 cult one; and there seems to be good reason to hope that the Snowy Heron 

 will succeed in reestablishing itself along this coast. — Herbert R. Sass, 

 The Charleston Museum, Charleston, S. C. 



The Black- crowned Night Heron in Washtenaw County, Mich. — The 

 Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax nceviu^), although 

 locally common south of the 42d parallel, is of rare occurrence, if one is to 

 judge from the data at hand, in this county (Washtenaw). For that reason 

 a statement regarding recent observations on and the capture of a speci- 

 men at Ann Ai'bor, Mich., will, it is believed, prove at least of interest to 

 students of Michigan ornithology. 



Previous to the appearance of the species here this spring but three 

 authentic records were known for the county, although other specimens 

 may have been taken by hunters and parties not in touch wdth students 

 of bird-life. A brief summary of these records is as follows: — On April 

 30, 1882, Prof. E. D. Campbell of the University of Michigan found the 

 species in a bit of swampy gromid known locally as ' The Overflow Region,' 

 about two and one half miles east of Ann Arbor. On June 27, 1893, Mr. 

 P. A. Tavemer noted one, apparently an immature bird, at Four Mile 

 Lake, some four or five miles west of this city; and on April 30, 1894, 

 observed it again in the same locality as that in which Prof. Camptell 

 found it. Up to 1908 the above records were the only ones known to the 

 University Museum Staff, for this County. ' 



