THE OOLOGIST. 



191 



1.03-1.^0, 1.58-1. 34^,, 1.61-1 .28, 1.62-1.29, 

 1.60-1.29, 1.56-1.29. A set of .seven: 

 1.60-1.28, 1.59-1.2?, 1-60-1.80, 1.52-1.27, 

 1.52-1.29, 1.53-1.80, 1.61-1.28. Average 

 of the fifteen eggs, 1.60-1.28. Ki<lge\v;iy 

 gives tile average as 1.66-1,28. 



The eggs liave small hoUows nmning 

 lengtlnvise in most of tliem, and tliey 

 are pitted more or less over the entire 

 siiifaee. 



Let !',s liear froni others regarding 

 tlu'ir exi)eri^'Uee vvitli tliis l)ird. 



A. C MUKCHISON, 



KeAvanee, Ills. 

 Wood Ibis in Illinois. 



hi "Bulliton No. 2, L)i\-isioii i 1 luo- 

 nomic Ornithology, U. S. Dept. of Ag- 

 rieuiiiire" iu the "Sj'stematie Report" 

 of tile hirds of the Mississippi Valley 

 under Wood Il)is, Tnniulus loci/Iator, 

 {iAnn.) we liiul the "Wood Ihis" is a 

 Southern l)ir<l, eoinmon in all mai'sh.y 

 loealities near tht^ Gulf eoast. A few 

 aseend the JMississippi Valley, Avhere 

 the}' ha\i' been taken in Indiana, Illi- 

 nois, Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri. 

 They are rare, irregular, ete. The read- 

 er niaj', therefore, easily imagine my 

 suprise at finding them by the hundreds 

 while staying for a few <iays on the 

 Illinois Ri\er, in in J^at. about 89 de- 

 grees, • 19 minutes. At this plaee the 

 hlutfs are three and one-half to four 

 miles distant, with a woods and lakes 

 intervening — a veritable sportsmen's 

 ami eolleetors' paradise. The lake 

 whieh I visited is ealled Potato Prairie 

 from the Ikshy rootstoeks of Nelum- 

 bium wdiieli abounds there. The lake 

 is surrounded by hea\y woods whieh 

 are full of wild turkey, besides rulied 

 grouse in gr< at numbers. As tiie foi-est 

 appiTiaehes tlielake the largi? trees give 

 Avay to stunted willows and dogwood, 

 Vv'hieh as tlie watej- becomes more con- 

 stant and deepens, yield to !)Ui-reeds, 

 thigs and water lillies, with large ex- 

 panses of ojien water, width a! 1 !iis 



season alone contains watei\ Here arc 

 found thousands of Little White Egrets, 

 A. canilidissi'.tiui, feeding on young 

 fish. During the o\erli()w season, i.e. 

 when the liottoms are Hooded by liack- 

 water from the Mississippi, fish come 

 from the river irio the lakes to spaw^i. 

 Thus when the Avater receeds and linal- 

 ly the long droughts of summer leave 

 behind only a series of smaller lakes 

 and expanses of mud Hats, where fr(nn 

 Octolter to Aug'ust is one continuous 

 lake, here Herons tind excellent feeding 

 grounds in the shallovis. 



While I thus had an o})portnnity to 

 observe this bird undisturbed, I took 

 occasion to notice its manner of secur- 

 ing its prey. Standing or quietly stalk- 

 ing along in water almost up to its body 

 it seized its lish between its niandi!)les 

 invarial)ly, instead of i)iercing with its 

 spear-like bill as has always been my 

 impression. 



While Egrets seem to l)e drawn to- 

 gether by a social instinct when feeding 

 Great Blue Herons alight and feed at 

 random, but when frightened Egrets 

 ai'te)' darting here and there for a time, 

 rise and make off in a straggling Hock, 

 while the Great Blue Herons arise high 

 in the air in one flock and wdieel round 

 and round in majestic circles. 



As we made oiu' Ave.y from (Uie tract 

 of open water to another through chains 

 of lesser lakes which are noAV mere 

 mud Hats, numerous Kails, i^east Bit- 

 terns and a solitary woodt'ock rose 

 from the surroiuiding reeds, appearing 

 for an instant, then \anishingo\er their 

 to))s. Dartiiig hither ami thither, 

 mingling with the hundrcd.s of sv/aliows, 

 white-bellied mostly, were flocks of 

 Least Tern and an occasional Night 

 Hawk, while now and then a- Turkey 

 Buzzard sailed slowly along the shore 

 in (piest of stranded dog lish. Fartlu )• 

 out than llu' Egrets could wade stood 

 the Wood liiiscs with pantaloons I'ollcd 

 high up to his body. The wh(de de- 

 meanoiof the Wood Hus is more stoi- 



