114 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XII 
ground. A visit to the spot was promptly arranged for, and early on the morning 
of June 5 we reaeht the breeding grounds. As we approacht the spot where the 
colony was supposed to be located, not a sign of the birds was to be seen — save the 
monotonous expanse of cat-tail marsh, flankt by a small rush-bound lake on one 
side and the sun-burned prairie on the other. We had workt well into the cat- 
tails, which towered some distance above our heads, when as if by a given signal 
the breeding birds rose from their nests in a cloud, and with much squawking, 
scolding and flapping of wings, rapidly retreated to a place of safety in the marsh 
half a mile or more distant. Fifty yards farther on we came to the spot from 
which the birds had risen, and here in the dense cat-tails were the nests, probably 
one hundred and fifty in all, large, clumsy, yet withal well bilt structures of 
coarse sticks and weed stalks, ranging in bight from six inches to three feet above 
Eig. 31. ONE OF THE SETS OF SIX EGGS OF THE BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT 
HERON WAS IN A NEST IN THE CAT-TAILS WHICH APPEARED TO BE A 
TWO-STORY AFFAIR, THE NEW NEST BEING BILT UPON THE 
REMAINS OF THE LAST YEAR’S NEST 
the ground, which was wet and boggy and in many places covered with several 
inches of water. 
The nests contained young of all sizes and ages, and many awkward, half- 
grown youngsters were skulking among the rushes. They did not appear to be 
particularly timid, but on the contrary seemed rather dull and stupid. Occasion- 
ally upon being worried, one would muster enough energy to peck viciously at a 
finger, giving vent meanwhile to hoarse squawks; but on the whole their interest in 
life appeared to be very casual. Nearly every nest contained the bodies of one or 
more “water-dogs” (the larval form of Amblystoma tigrinwn) and many of the 
young birds in the nests disgorged these animals upon our approach. Whether 
this was the result of fear, or of some physical cause we were unable to determine. 
These particular creatures evidently constituted an important part of the food of 
