July 9, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
28 
thing out he could find. He could use his forepaws as 
well as some people can their hands, and would very 
cleverly catch things tossed to him. 
As cold weather approached he grew very fat, and 
when about six months old weighed 24IDS. After snow 
came I put him in a box stall in the barn, and he slept a 
greater part of the time, eating but little. I would bring 
him into the house three or four times a week, and after 
he got warm he would prance about the room and play 
with the cat by the hour. 
After snow went off in the spring I got a hollow 
chestnut tree some iSin. in diameter, and set up about 
15ft. of it in the yard, covering the top and making a hole 
near the top for him, with a bottom about a foot below 
the hole, and tied him to the tree so he could climb up 
and down. Cooney was very much pleased with his new 
quarters, and was continually going up and down, or 
would lie in the hole, looking out to see what was 
going on. I had to keep him tied in this way, as we 
had a large brooding house near, with several hundreds 
of young chickens, and Cooney would kill them, although 
he never touched full-grown fowls. Occasionally he 
would get loose during the night, as with his constant 
climbing he would fray the cord he was tied with, but 
we always found him the next morning in some of the 
outbuildings.. 
Some two weeks since he got loose during the night 
and has not been seen since. It is but a few steps from 
my yard to the woods, and as Cooney gazed at them 
from his tree perhaps the wild spirit of his nature was 
aroused, and he wandered away. I was very sorry to 
lose him, and should he come back he will receive a 
most cordial welcome. If not, may good luck attend 
him in his wanderings. C. M. Stark. 
Dunbaeton. N\ H., June 12. 
A Heron Colony. 
A colony of great blue and night herons nesting to- 
gether on a small wooded island three miles from town 
was visited May 8, 1892. The island, containing some 
three or four acres, was thickly covered with black oaks 
and poplars, and at that time was completely surrounded 
by water, being about forty rods from the main shore. 
Finding it impossible to wade across to the island, on 
account of the depth of the mud, rather than of the 
water, we secured a skiff and paddled across. 
A few birds were seen now and then rising above the 
tree tops as we were quietly paddling over the open 
water, and as we drew nearer the female great blue 
herons could be seen sitting on the nests, while a num- 
ber Of males were standing on the edge of the nests, or 
perched on a branch near by, with necks drawn down, 
apparently enjoying the genial sunshine of the beautiful 
morning. As we approached, with not a sound but the 
splash of the paddle, the herons one by one would 
stretch up their long necks, take a good look at us, 
then look around as if to see what their neighbors were 
doing. The landing of the skiff on the gravellv shore 
was the signal for flight by all. The roar of wings, and 
the squawking cries as they left the nests and trees, was 
almost deafening. The air became alive with birds of 
both species, uttering their hoarse quak-quak-quak, fly- 
ing clumsily here, and there, not knowing which way 
to go after having been so suddenly disturbed. After 
recovering somewhat from the surprise such an unusual 
din and sight had caused, we proceeded to examine the 
nests. 
The nests of the great blue herons were all placed in 
large black-oak trees. They were ift. or more in diam- 
eter, and very high — 40 to 60ft. — above the ground. They 
were made of sticks built into a large rude platform, 
slightly hollowing to hold the eggs, and were from 2 to 
3^4ft. across, and about ift. thick, having been repaired 
year after year by adding more sticks. Nearly all the 
nests had one to three skeletons of young birds dangling 
from the structure, where they had become entangled 
among the sticks, and had been unable to free their long 
legs. There were also many skeletons on the ground 
near the base of the trees. Some of the nests con- 
tained small perch and minnows, and parts of decayed 
fish, giving them a strong fishy odor. The nests and 
trees were bespattered with the white excrement of the 
birds. 
Nearly every tree contained two to six nests, and in a 
few instances nests of the night herons were placed in 
the same trees, but much lower down than those of the 
great blue heron, on the lower branches. The eggs 
showed much variation in the length of time they had 
been incubated. Several sets of five each were quite ad- 
vanced, while sets of six were perfectly fresh, and some 
sets of four were from fresh to advanced. 
The night herons' nests were placed in smaller trees, 
oaks and poplars, and were usually from 20 to 30ft. from 
the ground. They were made similar to the others, but 
were much smaller, being about ift. across and very 
light, flimsy affairs, only hollowing enough to hold the 
eggs; the eggs in some being visible from the ground 
beneath. At this date a great many nests had only 
their foundations laid, and birds could be seen carrying 
sticks to and fro in their .bills. There were no com- 
plete sets of eggs of this species, three being the larg- 
est yet seen, while most of the nests were empty. 
May 16 we made another trip to the island. The birds 
in the meantime had been busily engaged-, as we found 
many more nests. One set of six eggs was seen, but 
most of them were of four or five. The night herons do 
not seem to be as wild as the great blues, many of them 
returning to their nests and remaining there till fright- 
ened by a quick move on our part, when they would 
cramble from the nests in a hurry. Eggs of the great 
blues seen on this trip were fresh to advanced. One 
nest contained young birds, and in another the eggs were 
pipped and nearly ready to hatch. A few nests, from 
which we had taken eggs on the 8th, were examined, one 
of these contained three and another two fresh eggs. 
We counted fourteen nests of the night heron in a wide 
spreading oak tree on the border of the island, every one 
of which contained eggs in different stages of incu- 
bation. 
On the afternoon of May 20 we made another visit, 
taking but one set of five badly incubated eggs of great 
blues. The night herons seemed to be as busy as ever, 
but many nests in the poplar trees at the lower end of 
the island were still unfinished, and some merely be- 
gun. Four sets of six eggs each were found nearly 
fresh, and many sets of four and five likewise. 
During the second and third trips to the island we 
used a device of my own in order to facilitate reaching 
the most desirable sets without having to climb each 
tree. Taking a long fisjj pole, I attached a wire frame 
to the small end, and on the frame was sewed a shallow 
sack about 8in. deep. By climbing one 01 the tallest 
trees in a group, I could reach and scoop into the sack 
at the end of the pole many sets which would otherwise 
have required hard climbing to reach. While it would 
have been possible to take hundreds of sets, we secured 
enough only for a nice series of each species showing 
greatest variation in size and shape. As near as we 
could judge, there were from 600 to 700 nests of the 
THE HERONRY IN WINTER. 
night herons in the colony, and seventy-five pairs of great 
blue herons breeding here. Eggs advanced in incuba- 
tion could easily be distinguished from thos". that were 
fresh by their more soiled and smoother su''~ce, show- 
ing a gloss such as a hen's egg shows when long set 
upon. 
I did not visit the herony again till the winter of '96. 
when much to my disappointment I found that the 
heron island had been completely cleared of its timber 
during the early part of that season, thus depriving the 
birds of their nesting place, which had been used for 
years. There is another small island about one-half mile 
north of this one, which I was told had been occupied 
for the past season by the birds. As the colony in- 
creased in numbers, it was probably necessary for the 
birds to enlarge their quarters, and they resorted to this 
island as being the most convenient and suitable. It is 
NEST AND EGGS OF NIGHT HERON. 
about the same size as the other, and is likewise covered 
with a thick growth of black oaks and poplars, but the 
trees are smaller, none larger than 6m. through. There 
were no nests of the great blue heron, and as nearly as I 
can estimate there were about 300 nests of the night 
herons, placed 15 to 30ft. from the ground, in the oak 
trees, not one being seen in a poplar. They seem to 
show here a preference for oaks over the poplars, as they 
did on the other island. 
I went to the island May 10 and saw about twenty-five 
birds, but none of the nests had been repaired. May 
17 I again visited the place, and estimated the number Of 
birds at 500, which is very likely a low estimate. Nearly 
all the nests had had a few green leaves added to them, 
but there were as yet no eggs. On the 28th another visit 
was made, when two sets of four eggs were seen, while 
some nests contained one, two or three eggs, but most of 
them were empty. We waited till June 9 before we made 
the trip again, and then found many complete sets. Only 
three were seen of five, the balance having three and 
four, some of them well advanced in incubation. 
On this island the fish pole and net was not a suc- 
cess on account of the many branches on the trees. 
Another method was resorted to, however, which, was 
perhaps a little more dangerous. Climbing into a tree 
top it could be easily bent over by the weight of one's 
body to the next tree, and so we climbed from tree to 
tree, examining the sets in each as we went along, finally 
leaching the ground some distance from the tree ascend- 
ed. One week later many of the nests contained young 
and eggs that were pipped, incubation beginning some- 
times as soon as the first egg was laid. The young arc 
ugly looking creatures, partly covered with brownish 
down, their long necks swaying this way and that, and 
seeming to be beyond control. Their note is similar to 
that of a young chicken, and can be heard while standing 
on the ground. At this time nearly all the sets of eggs 
were complete. 
Where the great blue herons went to nest is still un- 
known to me, but on each trip we saw several birds of 
this species standing in the water fishing, and on one oc- 
casion I saw several together flying lazily up the lake, 
but they rounded a point and were lost to view. I think 
they are still breeding somewhere in this locality. 
It will take only a year or two more to force the nigh! 
herons to seek another home, as the great blues wen 
obliged to do, for' the timber on the island now occu- 
pied was being cut off last winter (1897). 
The eggs of both species show little variation in 
coloring, being a light greenish blue, sometimes a shade 
lighter or darker. A few eggs show a somewhat deeper 
color in the middle than at the ends, and sometimes the 
opposite, but usually they are uniform in color all over. 
Frequently a chalky substance is found deposited on the 
surface. They vary from oval to elliptical in shape, 
eggs of the night heron I think showing a greater varia- 
tion than those of the great blue heron. 
Geo. A. Morrison, 
Fax Lake, Wis. 
Some Notes on American Ship- 
Worms. 
[Read before the American Fisheries Congress at Tampa. J 
While we wish to preserve and protect most of the 
products of our waters, these creatures we would glad- 
ly obliterate from the realm of living things. For we 
have been studying .and combatting them for a century 
and more, but we have found no adequate means of 
counteracting their depredations. 
During the summer of 1893, while engaged in obser- 
vations on the oyster at Beaufort, North Carolina, for 
-he United States Fish Commissioner, I became in- 
terested in the various ship-worms which are found so 
abundantly in the waters of North Carolina. During 
the summer I made some observations on their natural 
history, and returned for periods during the two suc- 
ceeding seasons to continue them. The results have 
been incorporated i na paper on "The Natural History, 
Organization and Late Development of the Teredini- 
dae," which is almost ready for publication. 
The ship-worms were favorite objects of study during 
the eighteenth century, on account of their great damage 
to the dykes of Holland in 1733 and subsequent years. 
The contemporaneous observers seem to have been un- 
aware of the observations of Pliny and others in ancient 
times, and supposed the ship-worms were natives of 
India, whence they had been brought by shipping in 
modern times. During these times they were consid- 
ered true worms, and it was not till the time of Cuvier 
that their molluscan characters were recognized. 
_ Even if the ship-worms were not recognized to be 
bivalve-molluscs from their adult Organization, it would 
be easy to determine this fact from a study of the de- 
velopment. 
The ship-worm starts in its development as an egg, 
which none but a specialist could distinguish from 
the eggs of mosf bivalves. In American forms that seem 
most abundant, at least in our Southern waters, the eggs 
are cast freely into the water and soon fertilized by 
the male element. As soon as fertilized the eggs begin 
to develop, and in our warm Southern climate become 
little free-swimming creatures in from three to four 
hours. It is true that these little creatures have as yet 
none of the distinctive features of the ship-worms, or 
even of bivalve-molluscs. But within a day the bivalve 
shell is acquired. For a few days one can rear the larvas 
in aquaria, but after a time the conditions become un- 
favorable and they disappear. For perhaps three weeks 
more, in a state of nature, they lead a free-swimming 
life and are gradually transformed into a little free-swim- 
ming bivalve almost exactly like the little clam or oyster. 
But how and where, in nature, this transitional period 
is passed has not been observed. 
The next stage which I found was that of the little bivalves,' 
about a hundredth of an inch in diameter, crawling over 
the surface of the wood in quest of places for their future 
homes. Once they have found appropriate places they 
begin to change. One by one the bivalve characters 
are lost, and the little bivalves are transformed into 
the very long, worm-like creatures which are found in 
wooden structures in salt water the world over. 
But along with the transformation the bivalve shell 
is preserved, though it is much modified as compared 
with other bivalve shells, and covers only a small part' 
of the head end of the body. With it the ship-worm 
excavates the burrow in the wood in which it lives, and 
seems able to penetrate the hardest or softest kinds of 
wood with equal facility. As the wood is grated away 
by the shell, the small particles are taken into the 
digestive canal, and the debris is extruded, but whether 
it serves for .food in any way is a question in dispute. 
During its life in the wood at least the larger portion 
of the worm's nutrition is taken in through the tube 
which hangs at rest in the water, and consists of small 
animal and especislly vegetable organisms. 
In thinking of s'jip-worms then, it should be remem- 
bered that the wood in which they form their burrows 
is primarily for their own protection; their long, naked, 
delicate bodies are perfectly defenseless. 
At Beaufort all kinds of unprotected wood becomes 
literally riddled in a very short time. There are two 
kinds of worms found there in great and about equal 
abundance. 
These are Teredo norvegica and Xylotrya fimbriata, 
whose mode of spawning has been already described. 
However, a very small proportion of specimens were of 
Teredo navalis, one of the common European forms. In 
this species the eggs are retained in the gills of the 
mother during a considerable period of their develop- 
ment, perhaps almost, till time for them to set into the 
wood. It is apparently this last species which I have 
