Vol. XXIJ Bent, Nesting Habits of Florida Herodiones. 263 



Ardea herodias wardi. Ward's Heron. 



The southern representative of the Great Bhie Heron is one of 

 the characteristic birds of Florida and for so large a bird is decid- 

 edly abundant ; especially so along the Indian River where it is 

 usually the first of the Herons to be seen ; as the train runs along 

 close to the river, just above Titusville, the shore seems to be 

 lined with Ward's Herons, standing like sentinels at frequent 

 intervals or flapping lazily away for a short distance ; sometimes 

 one will scale along on motionless wings close to the water until 

 it can drop its long legs down and alight on some favorite bar. 

 While fishing it stands quite motionless for a long time, waiting 

 for its prey with dignified patience, well becoming the largest 

 member of its group. In general habits it closely resembles its 

 northern relative, but it is not so shy as the Great Blue and not 

 nearly as difficult to stalk as the Great White Heron. 



I believe the Ward's Heron is evenly distributed all over the 

 State of Florida and is everywhere common. We found them 

 breeding in small willow hammocks on the prairies of the interior 

 and in the larger willows along the St. Johns River, where nests 

 with newly hatched young were found on April 21. The nests 

 were bulky affairs, made of large sticks about like those of the 

 Great Blue Heron, and were placed in the largest willows, about 

 10 or 12 feet from the ground. They do not nest in colonies 

 here, or elsewhere that I have observed them, but the nests are 

 scattered about singly or in disconnected groups. The young are 

 grotesque and homely, being but scantily covered with filamentous 

 down of a dirty grayish color. 



In Monroe County we found them breeding with the Great 

 White Herons in small numbers and we saw them or their empty 

 nests on many of the keys. Here their nests were built in the red 

 mangroves or on the tops of bushes, never more than half a 

 dozen or so in a group. We found only one occupied nest in this 

 region, which on April 29 contained two small young; the nest 

 was about 25 feet up in a red mangrove in the Great White 

 Heron colony. Both of these large Herons are early breeders 

 and, as we generally saw both species together, it was impossible 

 to identify the many nests from which the young had flown. 



