Jan. 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



11 



position, being usually less than twenty feet from 

 tlie grouml. My earliest date for a full set was 

 May 10. On May 18 two sets were taken, one of 

 four and the other of five eggs; both -were slight- 

 ly incubated. It was a great surprise to nie to 

 liarn how devoted this bird is to its nest. After 

 iiicnbalion has commenced, no noise or distur- 

 bance is sufficient to drive the bird aw.ay. In 

 several cases it was neccessary to remove it by 

 force before the eggs could be secured. After 

 being robbed, it almost immediately begins the 

 excavations of a hole for a second set of eggs. 

 This is always in the vicinity of the first, often in 

 the same tree. Their attachment for their nests 

 is an additional trait of cliaracter which should 

 commend these birds to our protection. Besides, 

 the fact of its being a perniinent resident and 

 tlins an ever useftd " insecticide," renders it one of 

 the most beneficial of the Picidac. 



The eggs of this species are in size and general 

 appearance so much like those of tlie Hed-headed 

 Woodpecker that they cannot be distinguished. 

 In making exchanges of Woodpecker's eggs with 

 others, faith in the reliability of the collector is an 

 essential factor. 



A Visit to a Heronry. 



BY EDWIK F. NOHTHRUP. 



In a swamp on the north shore of Oneida Lak<\ 

 N. Y., the Great Blue Herons, {Ard^a Jterodias,) con- 

 gregate every Spring to breed. For several acres 

 nearly every tree contains one or more nests of 

 these strange birds. Their eggs have a scientific 

 value of about thirty cents each and can be ex- 

 changed for other eggs at that price. 



On May 11, 1883, my friend John Dakin, a 

 close observer and an honest man, with myself 

 made a visit to this place for the purpose of col- 

 lecting eggs and studying the breeding liabits of 

 the Herons. We found we were ten days too 

 late for obtaining fresh eggs; so on the follow- 

 ing Spring we repeated the visit, but at an earlier 

 (late. 



Thinking it may interest the readers of the 

 Oknithologist and Oologist to learn about 

 this curious place and to read the experiences of 

 two ardent collectors, I cull from my notes the 

 material for this article. In accordance with our 

 plan. May 1, 1884, found us at 3.30 in the morn- 

 ing, seated at the table of Nett Wood's, in Brew- 

 erton, eating heartily of a warm breakfast, for we 

 knew a hard day was before us. After breakfast 

 we started off by the light of a lantern, in a boat 

 loaded with guns, baskets, climbers, lunch, birch- 

 beer, and other equipments necessary lor a col- 



lector's use. After having rowed in the darkness 

 for some time, we reached Great Bay swamp in 

 which the Herons breed. The entrance to the 

 heronry is a road used in Winter for drawing 

 wood, but which at this season of the year is cov- 

 ered, as is all the rest of the swamp, with from 

 two to three feet of water. This road runs back 

 a mile or more to dry land and passes the heron- 

 ry a few rods to the west. Along this water road 

 we poled the boat without much difticully, till 

 we were opposite the nests. But when wc left 

 the road and pushed the boat into llic unbroken 

 swamp, it became harder work. Logs had to be 

 gone around or the boat dragged over them, 

 brush to be cleared away and many other annoy- 

 ances to be overcome. But at last we found our- 

 selves in the midst of the heronry, and a wild 

 place it is. The flooded land extends back from 

 the lake shore for about one and a half miles and 

 much farther along the shore. 



Between the 35th of March and iIh' lirsl week 

 in April, the Great Blue Herons begin to congre- 

 gate in this swamp to breed. From that time 

 until their eggs are laid, they may be seen flying 

 to and fro in the swamp carrying large sticks in 

 their bills with whifh to repair their nests. I 

 say repair, for the Herons seem to be attached to 

 their old nests and to use the same ones year after 

 year. 



The timber in the swamp is all Black Ash and 

 grows very high, branching at the top. The trees 

 are slender, varying from one to three feet in di- 

 ameter, and are readily climbed with spurs, that 

 is if one is an adept at using them. Several hun- 

 dreds of these nests, built in tlie crotches of the 

 limbs, are grouped together at one place in the 

 swamp and cover a space nearly or quite half a 

 mile across. Nearly every tree which rises to the 

 general height of the rest and which has favor- 

 able crotches, contains from one to four nests. 

 Two, however, is the more usual number in one 

 tree, four being seldom, found. The nests are 

 constructed of sticks about one-fourth to half an 

 inch in diameter. A large bundle is laid on a 

 crotch and lined with finer twigs, making a flat 

 nest from twenty-five to forty inches in diameter. 

 Audubon describes the (Jreat Blue Heron's 

 nests in the south as being lined with a layer of 

 weeds, but there is nothing of this kind here. 

 The nests and tree tops are all white from the 

 droppings of the birds, which, possibly, has a 

 tendency to kill the trees, as many have dead 

 tops. From the higher trees one can look down 

 into many nests, all of which contain eggs. The 

 usual number is three or four, and many nests 

 contain five, a few have two, and John found one 



