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NOTES ON INDIANA HERONRIES. BY A. W. BUTLER. 



The Great Blue Herons have for years been known to breed throughout 

 the State, some places singly, at others in small companies, and again in 

 considerable numbers. The Black-crowned Night Heron also breeds in 

 heronries often near to or included in a nesting community of the last 

 mentioned species. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron has only been re- 

 ported as breeding in Knox county, where it attains its most northern 

 breeding range. There Mr. Robert Ridgway found a community of about 

 a hundred pairs nesting in the tall ash and sweet gum trees in a creek 

 bottom near Monteur's Pond, in April, 1881. From the same vicinity Mr. 

 Ridgway reported the Snowy Heron as breeding. The American Egret 

 has been known to breed in the lower Wabash Valley. This was supposed 

 to be its most northern breeding ground. Late in the summer, after the 

 duties to the family were done they were supposed to wander farther to 

 the northward, even reaching northern Indiana, Michigan and Ontario. 

 This supposition seemed to be further borne out by the fact that there 

 were, with very few exceptions, no records north of southern Indiana at 

 the time of the spring migrations. It seemed quite unusual that they 

 should wander northward in such numbers after the nesting season, con- 

 sequently when I began to hear of one or two pairs being found in com- 

 pany with some colony of Great Blue Herons I was prepared to believe 

 that if the right locality was found they might still be found breeding 

 in some numbers in the northern part of this State, provided man's agency 

 had not in some way destroyed them. 



