CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 1 39 



LXXIV. ARDEA Linn. 1758 

 194. Great Blue Heron. 



Ardea herodias Linn. 1758. 



Breeds in colonies in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward 

 Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British 

 Columbia. 



Richardson says that it is only accidental in the Northwest Terri- 

 tories and it seems to be rare in Alaska but likely breeds along the 

 Yukon or its branches. Grinnell records it as frequent along the 

 secluded inland shores at Sitka, Alaska. 



Breeding Notes. — Downs reports a large heronry on Mount 

 Uniake, Nova Scotia, in the tops of birch trees. A few breed near 

 Rustico in Prince Edward Island. There is a large heronry on the 

 Quebec side of the Ottawa twenty-five miles below the city of Ottawa- 

 Mr. Seton in his Birds of Manitoba, mentions the discovery of a 

 heronry on Riding mountain in Manitoba, at the head of Bird Tail 

 creek, in the summer of 1880, and the writer, in June 1894, saw a 

 a small one on Skull creek, Sask., a small brook that descends from 

 the Cypress hills. 



The following description of the heronry on the Ottawa is taken 

 from Mcllwraith's Birds of Ontario, page no: 



"The heronry is located in the centre of a thick swamp which, 

 on the occasion of our first visit, was so deeply submerged as to 

 bar all ingress. On the 19th July, however, the water was but 

 knee-deep. After proceeding about half a mile into the swamp, 

 our attention was arrested by a peculiar sound which we at first 

 thought proceeded from some distant saw-mill or steamer on the 

 river. As we advanced, however, the sound resolved itself into the 

 most extraordinary noises, some of which resembled the yelping 

 of dogs or foxes. On penetrating still deeper, into the swamp, 

 we discovered that the noises proceeded from an immense number 

 of herons, some perched on branches of trees, some sitting on nests, 

 and others fl5^ng overhead. The uproar was almost deafening and 

 the odour arising from the filth with which the trees and ground 

 were covered was extremely disagreeable. We tramped all through 

 the heronry and calculated that it must extend about half a mile 



