72 
THE WILSON BULLETIN— June, 1922 
protected colony of about one hundred and fifty pairs occupy 
the tallest timber in a large piece of woodland near the shores 
of Fox Lake, Dodge County. This colony is partly on the 
property of Mr. Matt. Baird, who is interested in the birds and 
has protected them. Most of the nests are in living oaks, elms, 
and maples, from seventy to eiglity-live feet above the ground. 
At the time of our visit, May IT to 23, the majority held young, 
from little fellows just hatched, to lusty youngsters a couple 
of weeks old, while a few contained eggs. Swarms of mosquitoes 
made Mr. Shrosbree’s life miserable below, as he collected the 
selected specimens of adult herons with his twenty-two rifle, I, 
meanwhile enjoying (?) the fishy stench among the nests above. 
We were greatly assisted in the difficult task of securing and 
lowering the necessary nests and tree sections by Mr. Baird, 
who is very expert in the tree tops. 
The adults of this colony were exceptionally tame, though 
the great height of the nests and the density of the foliage made 
intimate studies of the nest life impracticable. Here at least 
they cannot be considered a menace to the game fish, as all 
evidence in their nests and in the stomachs of fourteen adults 
examined, showed that they were subsisting almost exclusively 
on carp. One large fellow had two perfectly fresh ones nine 
inches in length in li is neck, and another of over eleven inches in 
his stomach. 
Xjfcticorax nycticorax naevius (Black-crowned Night Her- 
on). — A colony with about fifty occupied nests, three miles from 
Darlington, Lafayette County, was visited May 2. At this time 
it was in a thriving condition, most of the nests containing in- 
complete sets of eggs. On our last visit, June 3 and L we were 
informed that the colony had been “shot up” by boys. The 
twelve to fifteen remaining nests mostly held young, from little 
fellows just hatched to large ones climbing on the edges of their 
nests and on nearby limbs, while a few still held eggs. The 
adults were now extremely wild and wary. 
This colony was located in second growth timber on a side 
hill a short distance from a small creek and a half mile from 
the recatonica River, on the farm of Mr. Charles Miller, who 
endeavors to protect them. 
Tympanuchus a. americanus (Prairie Chicken). — The morn- 
ing and evening gatherings of cock Prairie Chickens on some 
favorite knoll where countless generations before them gathered, 
fought, “boomed,” and strutted, and where their own descendants 
