THE BIRDS OF WISCONSIN. 
85 
of Two Rivers. Others are, or have been, at Fox Lake, 
Stevens Point, Waukesha, Barron County and other points; 
also, frequently, scattering pairs are found among the colonies 
of night herons or even singly. By the middle of August the 
young begin to spread over all sections of the state, and "blue 
cranes" are then abundant until fall. 
Ardea egretta Gmel. AMERICAN EGRET. 
Twenty-five to fifty years ago the egret was a common bird 
on the larger marshes and swamps bordering the inland lakes 
and rivers. Of late years, thanks to the barbarous plume 
hunters, rare, so rare at the present time that three or four 
individuals only visit Lake Koshkonong each year where 
hundreds were found thirty years ago during August and 
September. A few single birds or small flocks rarely visit 
Delavan Lake during the early fall. Fifty years ago specimens 
were occasionally taken on Koshkonong in June, but were 
never found nesting. Young, unable to fly, were taken from a 
colony in a tamarack swamp near Jefferson in July, 1863. It 
was found breeding with a large colony of great blue herons to 
the westward of Two Rivers in June, 1880. Also .reported as 
nesting near Waukesha in 1866. 
Ardea candidissima Gmel. SNOWY HERON. 
A rare and irregular visitor from the south during August 
and September, Has been procured on Lake Koshkonong 
from time to time for the past sixty years, but usually only one 
or two at a time, from the large flights of egretta which 
formerlv visited the lake. The only adult bird in early 
summer that we have ever known in the State was taken on 
Koshkonong in June, 1860, and is preserved in the Kumlien 
collection. In August, 1886, Mr. H. L. Skavlem shot six of 
these birds from a flock of egrets, also on Lake Koshkonong. 
This is the last authentic record of any numbers that we know 
of. Of late years very rare. We have never been able to 
trace a capture of the snowy heron north of Milwaukee, 
Madison and La Crosse. Dr. Hoy's note on this species as a 
common bird, "nesting in communities in tamarack swamps," 
refers to the preceding species, or possibly the night heron, 
and was a conclusion formed by finding the snowy herons in 
the swamps in August, and even July, not knowing of their 
habit of northward migration in late summer. 
Ardea eserulea Linn. LITTLE BLUE HERON. 
Rare accidental straggler. A single individual was shot 
on Root River, Racine County, August 28, 1848, by Dr. P. R. 
