AMERIOAN ORNITHOLOGY. 225 



of the tree to permit a time exposure of the nest and eggs. The bird 

 defended her nest boldly, refusing to effect an escape after the whole 

 side of the tree had been chopped away. After removing the chips 

 from off the mother bird a number of times, and offering her every 

 opportunity to escape, I decided to use more care, hoping to be able 

 to remove enough of the tree to permit an exposure of the bird upon 

 her nest. This was successfully done, after which I removed the bird 

 with my hands and photographed the nest containing five partly incu- 

 bated eggs. 



The eggs of this species number from 5 to 8, and are white, or light 

 creamy ground color, profusely speckled with reddish brown. Average 

 size about 77. x55, inch. 



NESTING OF BLACK^CROWNED NIGHT HERONS ON THE 



GROUND. 



By Delos Hatch, Wise 



When I first began collecting, I inquired of hunters and trappers for 

 the breeding ground of these Herons, but none of them could remember 

 having seen any large nests in woods or pine groves,with the exception 

 of a few flawks. Later a friend told me that he thought he had found 

 some new nests as they were neither Duck nor Mud-hen (Coots or 

 Gallinules). 



In June, 1880 we took a boat and went about five miles south from 

 the landing. When nearing the shore of a large tract of wet meadow, 

 Herons began flying, in large numbers from the ground. Pushing our 

 boat up among the grass and floating bogs, we found the nests. They 

 were built of flags and reeds and were on the ground, some being part- 

 ly in the water. 



The nests were usually in burnt holes grown up with cat tails, each 

 hole containing from one to three nests. These holes varied in size 

 from one to four or more rods across. I visited the grounds the next 

 year but they were not nesting there then. 



In 1890 my friend found them nesting in a grove of willows. At 

 that time we found that there were about four hundred occupied nests 

 at heights varying from five to ten feet from the ground. Often there 

 were three or four nests in a single small tree. They remained here 

 until 1893 when a large fire destroyed the grove and they left, and I 

 did not attempt to locate them again until 1902. In that year I went 

 down to the marsh where I had first found them. The water was high 

 so we could push the boat into the marsh and through the canes. We 



