^°!'^^n Bent, Nesting Habits of Florida Herodiones. 267 



selves and sometimes in company with Little Blue and Snowy 

 Herons, where all the nests held eggs during the latter part of 

 April. In the big rookery at Braddock Lake, referred to above, 

 the Louisiana Herons occupied all the central portions of the 

 rookery, forcing the other species into the outskirts. Their nests 

 were built in the willows in every available spot and at every 

 height from 2 to 12 feet above the ground, often several nests in 

 the same tree ; they were neatly and well made of small sticks 

 and smoothly lined with fine twigs. Most of the nests contained 

 four or five eggs and one held six. The eggs were practically 

 indistinguishable in size, shape or color from those of the Little 

 Blue or Snowy Herons. 



As evidence that they do not always live in perfect harmony 

 with their neighbors, I saw, while lying concealed in the rookery, 

 a Louisiana Heron alight on a Little Blue Heron's nest and 

 deliberately poke the eggs out on to the ground, with her bill, one 

 after another ; the owner of the nest did not appear during the 

 process. All of the smaller Herons suffer from the depredations 

 of the Fish Crows which are constantly sneaking about in all the 

 rookeries ready to pounce upon and devour, or fly away with the 

 eggs as soon as the owners give them a chance. 



In Monroe County we found the Louisiana Herons everywhere 

 abundant, breeding in all the inland rookeries as well as on many 

 of the mangrove keys. At the Cuthbert rookery they formed at 

 least half of the colony, where we estimated that there were about 

 2000 of them. Here they occupied the centre of the rookery 

 filling all the trees with nests, most of them from 6 to 1 2 feet from 

 the ground in the black and red mangroves, a few being in the 

 ' buttonwoods.' At the time of our visit, on May i, fully three 

 quarters of the nests contained young birds of various ages. The 

 young bird is covered at first with dark gray filamentous down ; 

 the down on the head soon forms a prominent upright tuft of 

 wood brown hairlike filaments, giving the young bird a very 

 curious expression ; later on, as the bird attains its growth, it 

 begins to assume the white breast plumage of the adult, starting 

 as a narrow line down the centre of the breast and neck. When 

 about two thirds grown the young begin climbing out of the nests 

 and along the branches of the trees ; they are quite expert at this 



