130 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



specimens have been obtained in Asiibridge marsh at Toronto. 

 I have no doubt that a few come there to breed and indeed may 

 succeed in doing so. Other specimens were taken at Toronto, 

 in October, 1899. 



LXXII. 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, Assiniboia and 

 British Columbia. 



Richardson says that it is only accidental in the North West 

 Territories and it seems to be rare in Alaska but likely breeds 

 along the Yukon or its branches. 



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-Thompson 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 small one on Skull Creek, a small 

 brook that descends from the Cypress Hills in Assiniboia. 



The following description of the heronry on the Ottawa is taken 

 from Mcllwraith's Birds of Ovtatio^ 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 flying overhead. Ihe uproar was 



