THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



ruined every attempt to play the bird off as 

 a turkey on the tenderfoot on Thanksgiving 

 Day. 



No one who sees the Heron going it alone 

 on one leg in the sloughs or on the mud 

 flats would imagine that there could ever 

 come a period in his lanky existence given 

 to social frivolities. But there is. 



Just before mating time in the spring, the 

 birds hie them to some secluded spot far 

 from the madding crowd and there give 

 themselves up to social amenities, at which 

 times the male birds "show off" before the 

 lady birds with a vanity almost human. 



On these occasions the birds form a circle, 

 and when each has taken its position one of 

 the older of the feathered frauds jumps into 

 the ring and proceeds with the showing-off 

 act. This consists of a series of skips with 

 wing-flapping accompaniment and curving 

 of the neck. After any exceptionally 

 striking display of agility the performer 

 pauses and looks around with a most ludi- 

 crous ''How's that for high?" expression; 

 and, just like girls say, "O, ain't he 

 sweet?" the lady Herons sweetly k-r-a-a-k 

 approval in the tones of the basso profundo 

 bull-frog, while the envious male birds chip 

 in dissonant remarks that rasp the atmos- 

 phere like the output of the horse-fiddle. 

 The performer having exhausted his reper- 

 tory retires to the ranks and is succeeded by 

 another; and thus the circus goes on until 

 ever3' male bird has made full display of his 

 calisthenic accomplishments and the seance 

 closes. The birds then shake the wing for 

 home. 



Next spring the editor of The Nidiolo- 

 GiST and myself intend visiting the head- 

 quarters of the Ardea Jierodias on the Sacra- 

 mento and San Joaquin rivers, and we may 

 then be able to note more fully the habits 

 and peculiarities of this most gawky yet 

 Interesting bird. J, B. Smith. 



Alameda, Cal. 



Mr. Jos. Grinnell recently took a fine specimen 

 of the Spotted Owl near Pasadena, Cal., at a high 

 altitude. 



My '94 Outing Trip in North-West 

 Canada. 



[continued.] 



June 5. — I arose early this morning, 

 feeling refreshed after a comfortable sleep 

 in a good bed, and left the house about four 

 o'clock to investigate the shore of the lake. 

 The water was very smooth, and a beautiful 

 sight was before me. Horned Grebes, 

 American Eared Grebes and Dabchicks, 

 Canvas-backs, Redheads, Mallards, Gad- 

 walls, Shovellers, Pintails, Scaups, Teal 

 and Gulls were swimming in great quanti 

 ties on the calm water as the sun was shin- 

 ing brightly, and their bright plumage was 

 reflected in the glass^^ surface of the water. 

 The sight was '!out of sight," as the boys 

 term it. 



The reeds were filled with Red-winged 

 and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and the 

 noise they made when they iound me look- 

 ing into their beautiful basket-shaped nests 

 was a caution. Many of them would fly 

 within a foot of my head and sit on the 

 reeds and scold. Strange to say, many of 

 the nests of the Yellow-headed ones were 

 empty, a number had one ^^'g in each nest, 

 and quite a few contained young birds. 

 The Yellow-headed variety outnumbered 

 the Red-winged six to one both in noise 

 and number. lyong-billed Marsh Wrens 

 were quite plentiful and musical, as I 

 walked up along the shore. Grebes, Coots 

 and Ducks of various kinds would swim out 

 of the reeds a short distance and turn 

 around and look at me in a surprised man- 

 ner. These actions were quite different 

 from their brothers and sisters in the East, 

 who are always on the look out for a gun 

 and generally fly out instead of swimming. 

 How soon the birds learn to trust us if we 

 do not trj' to kill them. 



Black Terns were flying around my head 

 in great quantities, and as they were very 

 noisy I knew they had their nests close by 

 in the long marsh grass growing in about 

 two feet of water. I searched for their 



