July, 1910 
SOME COLORADO NIGHT HERON NOTES 
119 
Just preceding the return of the birds in 1908, a spark from a passing engine 
ignited the dry rushes, and the nesting site of the preceding years was entirely 
obliterated. The birds were first noted on the same date as in 1907 — April 26 — 
but a careful search of all the lakes failed to reveal their nesting place until, on 
May 16, in an endeavor to discover the nesting place of the many Great Blue 
Herons which frequented the Barr chain of lakes, we stumbled onto the rookery of 
both. 
It was located some ten miles southwest of the lakes in a grove of cottonwood 
trees on the bank of the South Platte River. The Great Blue Herons had selected 
the tops of some lofty trees for their nesting sites, and almost beneath them in a 
dense grove of second-growth cottonwoods were the Night Herons’ nests, a hun- 
dred or more of them, ranging from ten to twenty feet above the ground in saplings 
two to four inches in diameter. They were practically identical in construction 
with the nests which we had examined two years before in the willow thicket over 
Fig. .37. thk same ne;st june 3o, 1907; the; nest compeeteey inundated 
AND THE FOUR GREAT STUPID BIRDS HUDDLED TOGETHER IN THE NEST, 
DRENCHT TO THE SKIN, THE VERY PICTURE OF DEFECTION AND DESPAIR 
the water, but were, if anything, a trifle larger and better bilt. 
The parent birds were quite tame and seemed much excited over our intrusion. 
On this date, May 16, most of the nests contained incomplete sets — one, two and 
three eggs — altho one set which was collected was heavily incubated. On June 5 
many of the nests contained freshly hatcht young and two birds were seen that 
were almost large enough to fly. On July 5 nearly all of the young birds were well 
grown and were out of the nests, climbing awkwardly about among the branches 
which, being heavily foliated, afforded them good concealment and protection from 
the broiling sun. 
A year later, on May 9, 1909, a visit to the heronry found the Great Blue 
Herons busily nesting, but not a Night Heron was to be seen. A diligent search, 
however, disclosed a new rookery, some two miles above the old one, excel- 
lently concealed in a very dense grove of young cottonwood saplings near the river 
bank. The nests, of which there were about a hundred, were identical with those 
