THE OOLOGJST. 



203 



I then knew I was approaching the 

 Heronry. As I drew near the sounds 

 increased and anybody not knowing 

 what they were coming to would have 

 supposed there was a kennel of dogs 

 in the neighborhood, such a sound of 

 barks, yelps, squeals and snarls as 

 arose from the swamp in which the 

 Heronry was located. The swamp 

 was not a very wet one and I was soon 

 standing in the midst of the Colony. 

 On every side as far as the eye could 

 reach were tall white maples in each of 

 which there was from one to five nests 

 of the Black-crowned Night Heron and 

 nearly all of these were being used. I 

 calculated the number of nests to be 

 not less than two-thousand five-hundred 

 and probably more. The Herons made 

 quite a row at first, but soon quieted 

 down. 



The first tree I climbed contained four 

 nests, three of which contained four 

 eggs and the fourth one, quite a nice 

 baker's dozen. From my position in 

 this tree I could see about one-hundred 

 nests, all of which contained eggs, and 

 a short distance on my left was a crows 

 nest coutaiuingfour nearly fully fledged 

 young crows. 



The nests varied greatly in size 

 and shape, some being mere platforms 

 of sticks; indeed in some eases the 

 nests were so flat that a heavy wind 

 would have blown the eggs out of the 

 nest. Others however, were consider- 

 ably hollowed out and of quite large 

 size. 



I obtained in the course of the day 

 about one hundred eggs, some of which 

 were fresh but in most cases the incu- 

 bation was advanced. The trees were 

 not easy to climb being small in di- 

 ameter but regular sky-scrapers as re- 

 gards height, and when an OSlogist is 

 swinging about at the top of a thin tree, 

 he is perfectly willing to say that Terra 

 Firma suits him better. 



The nests averaged forty feet with 

 extremes of twenty and sixty-five. 



One nest was not uu frequently placed 

 directly above another with only a few 

 feet of space between them. 



While up one tree I dropped an egg 

 and supposing it broken thought 

 nothing more about it, but on return- 

 ing to the ground I found the egg un- 

 injured buried in the soft mud at the 

 bottom of the tree. It landed directly 

 on its larger end. The eggs varied 

 greatly in size, color and shape. Some 

 were pale blue in color, others a blue 

 green, and still others of a green color. 

 Some were long and rounded evenly at 

 both ends, others were short aud point- 

 ed, some were quite large, others again 

 quite small, average size 2.10 by 1.45. 

 The average set was four, frequently 

 three, sometimes two, rarely one or 

 five. The sets of one were either caus- 

 ed by the eggs falling from the nest or 

 on account of the heavy rains, cold 

 weather and late spring. 



Of several thousands of sets examined 

 during the past few years, by me, there 

 was not one set containing six eco-s. 

 Robert C. Woodhouse, 

 New York City. 



Notes from Yamhill OouDty, Oregon. 



The following notes of 1892 will give 

 eastern aud souteru collectors an idea 

 of the commonest eggs to be found in 

 this locality. 



April 28. Two neighbors and myself 

 took a set of thirteen eggs of the Oregon 

 Rutted Grouse, (Bonasa umbellus sabini) 

 commonly called Pheasant." The nest 

 also contained two eggs of the Mongo- 

 lian Pheasant. 



The nest was a shallow hollow among 

 the leaves under a brush heap, in a 

 patch of vine maple, not very well con- 

 cealed, The eggs are pure white spot- 

 ted sparingly with light brown. 



May 7. Took a set of four* eggs of 

 Oregon Towhee {Pqnlo maculatits ore- 

 gonus) commonly called Mountain Rob- 

 in. Incubation ydvanced. The nest 



