12 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 1 



nest containing six! We went at just the right 

 time to tint! full sets and the eggs fresh. 



Their average measurement is 2.03 by IT.) 

 inches. Jtihn found one abnormal egg which 

 measured but 1.60 by 1.34. These eggs are pale 

 greenish blue, shells' not very rough, and general- 

 ly oval, although they sometimes vary from this 

 shape. 



At this sciison there are few otluT birds in the 

 heronry itsell. A few small tlocks of black- 

 birds wander in and Woodpeckers nip the trees. 

 A little earlier, and in other parts of the swamp, 

 many Black Ducks arc found, and later, many 

 Wood Ducks build in holes their feather-lined 

 nests. 



When a gnu is first Hrcd in the swamp, linn- 

 dreds of terrified Herons ri.se off their nests, utter- 

 ing from their long throats most deafening 

 squawks .quite similar to the quack of a duck, 

 but coarser and much louder. You can see them 

 everywhere anxiously flying over the tops of the 

 trees, with their n^cks reefed and their long legs 

 held closely together and thrust straight out be- 

 liind. They are now easily shot with a long 

 reaching gun and many could be killed, still one 

 is surpi'ised, when he considers the size of the 

 marks, to see how many he fails to bring down. 



I want some for their skins, so am jirepared to 

 shoot the next one that came along. It is but a 

 moment before I see a tine specimen with broad 

 pinions, approaching. His neck is reeled, ner- 

 vously he turns his crested head from side to 

 side, trying with his sharp yellow eyes lo culeh 

 sight of the hostile collectors below. I raised my 

 gun to fire, the Heron sees the movement, when 

 suddenly giving a loud squawk, ho changes his 

 course and strives to escape by vigorously beating 

 the air with his wings. But too late. A fatal 

 pellet has crushed through his wing-bone and the 

 heavy body, unsupported, falls crashing through 

 the bare limbs and far down to the water with a 

 loud splash. I hasten to catch the wounded bird, 

 he sees me coming and raising on his stilt like 

 legs first attempts to make off. But the wounded 

 Heron soon finds that he is overtaken ; then with 

 broken wing drooping, he stands and stretching 

 up his long neck with its feathers all on end, and 

 erecting his wavy crest, the sharp bill being 

 partly opened, in a rasping voice he bids defiance. 

 He is certainl}''a fierce looking bird, and as he 

 stands there with ruffled feathers, a beautiful one. 

 Arming myself w'ith a club, I cautiously approach 

 and striking the towering bead a sharp blow, lay 

 him quivering on the water. Such is the mercy 

 of science ! 

 Up to this period, May 15, the birds have not 



been sitting long enough to injure their plumage 

 and as only full plumaged birds breed, and are 

 found in the heronry, the specimens shot here are 

 in the finest feather. Generally, in heronries 

 farther south, other species of Herons breed with 

 the Great-blues, but at this place only the one 

 kind is found. There are several Eagles at Onei- 

 da Lake and while on this trip I saw one dash in 

 anuing the Herons, scattering them right and left, 

 the terrified birds raising loud cries, and I won- 

 dered if the Eagles ever killed any, or disturbed 

 their eggs. This Eagle at least flew ofl' with eiui)ty 

 talons. I should be glad to learn through the 

 columns of this magazine, from any one having 

 liositive knowledge as to what may be the liabits 

 of the Eagle in this respect. 



Fortunatelj' it was a warm, bright day and we 

 thought we could do better by wading from tree 

 to tree than by pushing the boat about in the 

 brush. So after eating our lunch and having 

 strapped on our steel climbers ami adjusted to 

 our sides the cigar boxes in which the eggs were 

 to be carried down from the trees, we were soon 

 at. work. It makes me chilly now to think how 

 I felt, when first I stepped into the cold water 

 nearly up to my waist. Then, too, when all heat- 

 ed from the hard exercise of climbing, it was a 

 severe experience to suddenly cool off by wading 

 in the cold water to another tree. To take the eggs 

 from the nests which were out of reach, we used 

 small scoops attached to the end of long sticks. 

 Having taken and marked the sets of all the eggs 

 in one tree, we would descend and pack them 

 with moss or cotton in a market basket and then 

 seek another tree containing more than one nest. 

 When we were up in a tree the Herons would 

 often approach quite near. They could be seen 

 in different places, with heads drawn down (m 

 their shoulders, perched on a limb guarding their 

 preciovis eggs, or sometimes we would see one 

 quite near us, dressing its long black and white 

 breast feathers and displaying its graci-tid plumes 

 and the beauty of its arched neck. 



We worked hard till nearly sun down, having 

 collected over a hundred eggs each and shot a few 

 Herons. When we were ready to start back for 

 the boat, we found that we had w-andered from 

 it not a little distance. It is no easy task to w-ade 

 in two feet of cold water with hidden brush to 

 catch the feet; two six pound Herons are not a 

 very light and ccnnpact bundle ; a heavy basket of 

 eggs will take away the use of one hand, and legs 

 which have used climbers all day work clumsily; 

 empty stomachs are not silent, and taking all to- 

 gether, by the time we reached the friendly boat, 

 our greatest desire was to sit down. We were 



