AND OOLOGIST. 
99 
July, 1886.] 
OOLOGY. 
J. PARKER NORRIS, Editor. 
The Editor assumes no responsibility for those ar¬ 
ticles which have the names of the writer attached. 
A Day With the Birds of a Hoosier 
Swamp. 
BY BARTON W. EVERMANN. 
Through the southern part of Carroll county, 
Indiana, flows a small creek called Middle Fork. 
Not far from where it is crossed by the Logans- 
port and Terre Haute Railroad, it widens very 
much, spreading over considerable country which, 
in its upper portion, forms a large slough, covered 
with cat-tails and tall water-reeds and grasses, 
and devoid of timber. The western half is equally 
wide, but differs from.'the upper or eastern half in 
supporting besides a pretty dense undergrowth, a 
heavy forest of swamp ash, (Fraxinus sambucifolia) 
and soft maple (Acer dasycarpum). 
Besides various other species of water plants, 
there are large patches of the yellow pond lilly, 
(Nelumbium luteum ), in occasional open spots. 
During the greater part of the year this maple 
swamp (as it is called) is covered with water from 
one to two or three feet„deep. The current is 
scarcely perceptible, so it has much the nature of 
a large pond. 
1 had been told that “Big Blue Cranes.” ( Ardea 
herodias ), nested in great numbers in this swamp. 
“Why,” said the man who described the place to 
me, and who had seen it in winter, “the nests in 
the tree-tops look like small hay-cocks ! I saw 
them plainly from the road as I drove by in my 
sleigh. I counted over a hundred of them.” This 
was enough. I decided to visit that swamp at the 
proper time next spring; and on May 31, 1883, 
with two companions, I reached the swamp after 
a pleasant morning drive of ten miles. We drove 
our spring-wagon into a barnyard near by, put 
our horses in the stable, and dressed ourselves in 
our wading suits. Although it was late in May, 
yet we found the water very cold, and, as if to in¬ 
crease our unpleasant sensations, the bottom was 
very uneven, and we often suddenly stepped into 
holes deeper than any before; or our feet became 
entangled and we fell headlong into the water. 
And occasionally we found small areas of quick¬ 
sand into which we were kept from sinking only 
by being able to catch hold of prostrate logs or 
other vegetation. Hardly had we entered the 
swamp when we saw a Great Blue Heron coming 
toward us from northward. He was high in air 
when first seen, and was approaching the swamp 
with long, steady strokes of his mighty wings. 
But as he neared the margin of the forest he 
suddenly stretched his neck and legs to their full 
length, partially closed his wings and swooped 
downward with a whirring noise in a direct line 
for the top of a large ash, in which was a nest. 
While in this descent, no movement of wing or 
other member could be detected. I had often 
watched different species of hawks descend from 
great height in the same way, but had never be¬ 
fore seen so long a bird as the Great Blue Heron 
perform the feat. I was anxious to note how the 
descent would end, so I watched the bird intently. 
When within but a few yards of the tree, he sud¬ 
denly doubled up his neck close against his breast-, 
let fall his long legs in a very awkward, dangling 
manner, spread his wings and beat the air with a 
few well-timed strokes until he was able to clutch 
the limb where he wished to alight. 
We were soon among the trees which contained 
the, nests, and during the day witnessed the re¬ 
turn of many a heron from the fishing grounds to 
the north, and in every case the descent was made 
as I have already described, and each returning 
bird was received with loud croakings by those at 
home. But soon all became quiet except an oc¬ 
casional malcontent who, seemingly not satisfied 
with his lot, gave evidence of his discontent in 
spirited quarrelings with those about him. Then 
the return of another bird would put all in con¬ 
fusion again. We walked about among these 
trees and tried to estimate the number of nests 
which they contained, and, while we could not 
readily determine the number exactly, we counted 
over one hundred and thirty. Some trees con¬ 
tained but one nest, but there were usually several 
in each suitable tree. In one instance we counted 
twelve nests in one tree and they were all in use. 
As these maples and ash were quite tall and 
were devoid of limbs for the first thirty to sixty 
feet, and as we had no “climbing irons,” only 
rarely did we find one ’which I could ascend. 
With the aid of a long rope, however, I was able 
to reach a lew of the nests. I here give my 
method of using the rope—a method which I 
have on many occasions found quite useful and 
satisfactory. To one end of the rope I tied a 
small, light, but stout cord one or two hundred 
feet long. To the other end of the cord I fastened 
a weight of convenient size. This I could throw 
over limbs at considerable heights, and could then 
draw the rope up over the limb. When this was 
accomplished I have found it not very difficult to 
ascend even very large and tall trees. In doing 
