Feb. 1887.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



27 



a?; is the way of this iiictst beautiful aud most 

 timid of our herons, the pair at hist toolv posses- 

 sion of their doniieile. 



Meamvliile a third nest had been oeeupied by 

 a Louisiana Heron {IL/dnnnisiia tricuhir htdo- 

 vicitnid.) These birds approaeh you so quietly, 

 and their neutral tints arc so in harmony with 

 the dindy liii'hted surroundin>;s, that they are 

 by far the most dilHeult todetei-t in ai)i)roaeh- 

 inu^ and leavinii' their nest, of all our herons. 



Not St) the next comer, the Blaek-erowni'd 

 Night Heron (Xyctianlea ginsea ncevia.) They 

 make themselves as conspicuous as possible, 

 botli by voice and mien, and the clumsy way in 

 which this one seemed to stumble al)out the 

 rude scatlbld which served for a nest, just over 

 my head, made me fear that the eggs would be 

 broken before 1 could save them. 



The fifth nest yet remained unoccupied, and, 

 just as I was growing tired of my vigil, a pair 

 of Little Blue Herons {Floruht caTulca) came 

 and took possession; the female in that rare 

 and peculiar plumage — pied and streaked with 

 blue and white. 



In the tragedy that followed, she and the 

 Louisiana Heron were the victims, and, on 

 w ading to the other side of the pool to pick up 

 the latter, I found a nest of the Least Bittern 

 {Ardettd Kfilis) with eggs, so that within the 

 si)aoe of a few feet here were six species of her- 

 ons nesting! All the nests contained full sets 

 of eggs, and all were fully identified. 



Field Notes on Some Birds of 

 Colorado. 



BY c'ii.vuLi:8 i\ MOitiasoN, I'otrr li:wis, col. 



American Ouzel (Cinrliis amcrivanns.) An a- 

 bundant bird on all the mountain streams, pre- 

 fering places in the mountains where the water 

 rushes through rocky canons, seldom In smooth 

 water, tlie wildest localities are their favorite 

 resorts and there it breeds, and lives both sum- 

 mer and winter, no weather is to severe for it 

 and its pleasant notes are heard above the roar 

 and din of the mountain torrent and the rush 

 of the gale or the howl of the winters storm 

 cannot drown its voice, for this is the time it is 

 happiest. Often when cami)ed in the mountains 

 has it been mj' only companion and now I can- 

 not take its life without a pang of remorse, I 

 have watched them for hours when no living 

 person was within miles and some of my hap- 

 piest hours have been spent in their company. 

 It is a prett}' sight to see them feeding, now a- 

 lighting on some half submerged rock it jerks 



its tail up and down nnu-h like the wren, then 

 turning alxtut a few times, then dives into tlie 

 white water only to appear a moment later 

 si>me yards away, to return to the same or to 

 some njore convenient rock to repeat its move- 

 ments, relieving the monotony I)y now and then 

 bursting into song, (for this bird does sing and 

 it is a j)oor observer that has not heard its song, 

 it does not wait for the breeding season but 

 sings all thiough the year, the rougher the 

 louder its song,) now it wades into the water 

 and when at a convenient dei)th it stands beat- 

 ing the water with its wings, throwing the 

 spray over itself and for some distance about. 

 Much has been written about this beautiful 

 l)lrd, for no one sees it but admires it, and I ad- 

 vise all to read .lohn Muir's "The llunnning 

 Bird of the California Falls," it is interesting 

 and ver}' pleasantly written. Eggs are pure 

 white, deposited in a dome-shaped nest whicli is 

 a mass of green. If not placed where th(^ spray 

 will keep it moist, the bird will visit the water 

 and flying to the nest, alight on it and shower 

 the spray over it in little showers, thereby 

 keeping it green, and the material of which it 

 is made, constantly growing. 



Sharp-shinned Hawk. {Accijiitcr fitsnis,) 

 Have observed this bird but once, took a set of 

 three «'ggs on June •22nd, lSS(i, eggs deposited in 

 a dilapidated Mag[)ies nest, the arched roof of 

 which had fallen upon the main nest, forming 

 a liollow which had been lined with a few 

 feathers upon some dead leaves whicli had i)ar- 

 tially filled it the fall before. I had no idea of 

 finding eggs in this nest but was investigating 

 the various old nests in the vicinity', was there- 

 fore surprised to see three eggs in this nest, 1 

 waited an hour to see the bird but none appear- 

 ing, I was going home mucli disappointed at 

 being obliged to leave such a set of eggs where 

 I found them, but upon passing through a 

 clump of bushes not ten yards from the nest there 

 perched Mrs. Hawk, where she iiad evidently 

 been watching all my movements, although I 

 could not see her, I went back to the nest ami 

 this time made up my mind to see her on the 

 nest before securing her, therel)y being posi- 

 tively sure of the identification, I had not long- 

 to wait for she was getting uneasy now and she 

 soon settled on the eggs ; it was high time for I 

 was nearly covered with the bites of Colorado 

 mosquitoes, and my patience nearly exhausted, 

 but I was well repaid in the possession of a fe- 

 male Sharp-shinned Hawk and her three eggs. 

 Nest twelve feet from the ground. Eggs, 

 ground-color a purplish-white or perhaps more 

 properly speaking white with a purplish tint, 



