492 'Wright and Harper, The Birds of Okefinokee Swamp. [bet. 



found a number of these birds in a large colony of Little Blue Herons 

 between Mixon's Ferry and Fargo. On June IS three adults were ob- 

 served at the same place and they proved fairly tame. Before the plume 

 law of Georgia was enacted, hunters used to kill as many as 200 in a day 

 in this resort. In 1910 there was a colony of 175-200 Egrets and White 

 Ibises on Minne's Lake, and another of the same species and numbers was 

 found in 1909 on the Big Water. On June 25 and 27 we saw two very shy 

 Egrets flying over Floyd's Island Prairie. From Jul}- 7 to 12 a quartette 

 of Egrets frequented a swampy bog between Gallberry and Billy's Islands. 

 In the morning, even before daylight, our party always found them feeding 

 in the bog, and in the evening, roosting in near-by trees. Although they 

 were wild, and received considerable attention, they did not leave the 

 place. 



8. Florida caerulea. Little Blue Heron.; 'Blue Scoggin.' — 

 Common. A colony of several hundred birds was reported nesting in 

 Cowhouse Baj r in May. During this month a few adults and one immature 

 bird were observed in the northern part of the swamp, and on June 27 

 several others were seen over Floyd's Island Prairie. Along the western 

 borders of the swamp, in former years, there were two or three colonies 

 of Little Blue Herons. One at Scoggin Pond was forsaken this year for 

 the first time. Between Mixon's Ferry and Fargo there is another which 

 is said to have been in existence for a long time. It was reported by Mr. 

 Bryant Lee to contain about 500 nests with eggs and young on May 20. 

 On our way to the same colony on June 18 we saw adults either coming or 

 going almost every minute. The heronry is surrounded on three sides by a 

 thin rim of pines, within which the squeaking, chickenlike calls of the 

 young were heard. Here, in a swampy tangle where one goes waist-deep, 

 the meager platforms of sticks are placed. The growth is mainly button- 

 bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) , ' hurrah bush ' (Leucothoe racemosa) and 

 ' latherleaf ' (Clethra alnifolia). The nests were from three to seven 

 feet above the water; the average was four or five feet. At this season 

 we found only half a dozen nests with eggs, and about as many more with 

 young. All the other nests were empty, and many were more or less dis- 

 placed. All about us were the white young in the higher bushes and pine 

 saplings, some of which were bending beneath a load of ten to twenty birds. 

 No more than six dead young were found in the whole heronry. From one 

 position we could easily count 200-250 birds, of which only ten or twelve 

 were adults. In all we saw 800-1000 young birds in this heronry, and no 

 doubt many of stronger ones had left with the adults for the feeding grounds. 

 On the previous day we had observed them on the Suwannee River. In 

 the whole heronry we saw no more than three young in which the blue of 

 the wings had begun to show. We learned on inquiry at the turpentine 

 still three miles away that the negroes in former years used to gather the 

 eggs in baskets for culinary purposes. It is almost equally certain that 

 the birds were used for food. So far as we could determine, neither of 

 these practices was indulged in this year. 



