120 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XII 
examined the previous year, and were placed on the branches against the tree 
trunks at a uniform hight of about twenty feet. Most of them contained incomplete 
sets, or fresh, complete sets. 
The nesting season of 1909 closed without affording another opportunity to 
visit this colony, and now we look forward with much interest to the nesting 
season of 1910; for these peculiar birds seem to have a surprise in store for us 
each year, and we are at a loss to know what the next one will be. 
Our four years’ experience with these birds brought to light a wide variation in 
habits and actions, and a few peculiarities that were remarkably constant. We 
found nests in the tallest trees; in medium -sized saplings; just over the surface of 
the water in low willows; on or just above the ground amid cat-tails; and literally 
floating on the surface of the water far out from shore. We found complete and 
Fig. .58. YOUNG BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS 
WELL GROWN AND OUT OF THE NEST 
CLIMBING AWKWARDLY ABOUT 
AMONG THE BRANCHES 
heavily incubated sets of three, four, five and six eggs. We found sets of fresh 
eggs within a few feet of nests containing half-grown young; and on the same day 
we saw young on the wing. We found some birds so timid that it was impossible 
to approach within a hundred yards of them, and others so tame that we could 
almost put our hands on them. We found some parent birds that exhibited abso- 
lutely no signs of anxiety for the safety of their nests, and others that showed 
every evidence of uneasiness during our visits. We found young birds that 
seemed totally indifferent to our presence; others that exhibited a craven fear of us; 
and still others that were extremely pugnacious, and apparently fearless. 
On the other hand we noted a remarkable similarity between all nests bilt in 
similar locations, and a surprisingly small variation in the shape and color of the 
