Wayne: Bieds of South Carolina. 31 



Little Blue, [Snowy,] Green, and Black-crowned Herons, but 

 always in very small numbers, and it is equally at home while 

 breeding in a freshwater reservoir or on an island in the salt marshes . 

 By the 23rd of April full complements of four eggs are laid, and 

 these measure 1.75X1.35. With the exception of the Green He- 

 ron, this species is the least shy of all the smaller herons. 



71. Florida caerulea (Linn.). Little Blue Hehon. 



This heron is very abundant along the coast, where it breeds 

 either in freshwater reservoirs or on islands in the salt marshes, 

 but it prefers fresh water as a rule. It is a permanent resident 

 since both young and adults winter in sheltered ponds on the 

 coast islands. 1 



I have often seen the immature (white) birds mated with the 

 adult (blue) birds, and I think this fact has escaped the notice 

 of most ornithologists. In some forward seasons the eggs are 

 laid during the third week in April, but in backward seasons they 

 are not laid until the last few days of that month. On April 

 23, 1901, I obtained a set of five eggs, and counted many more 

 nests which contained as many. The eggs measure 1.75X1.25. 



These birds pass and repass our settlement to and from their 

 breeding places every day during the months of April, May and 

 June, while in July and August multitudes wing their way every 

 afternoon to the coast islands on which they roost for the night. 



72. Butorides virescens (Linn.). Gkeen Heron. 

 Audubon states 2 that he has seen this species "breeding in the 



grounds of the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett in Charleston." 



Since Audubon wrote, I have frequently taken the eggs of this 

 bird on the beautiful grounds of Mr. D. C. Ebaugh, where it bred 

 from 1878 to 1882. These grounds are now the site of the cigar 

 factory near the Union Station, in the extreme northeastern 

 portion of the city. 



This heron winters in small numbers on the coast islands, and 

 is, therefore, a permanent resident. It is universally known on 

 this coast as the "Skeow," from its note, and it breeds abun- 

 dantly, either in isolated pairs or in large colonies. The eggs, 

 which are laid in the second week of April, generally number 

 four or five, and measure 1.40X1.10. 



1 The Charleston Museum has records of the Little Blue Heron, in both immature and 

 adult plumage, from open marshes in Charleston Harbor in the vicinity of Drum Island 

 and Magnolia Cemetery throughout the winter. — Ed. 2 Birds of America, VI, 106. 



