. 
Number op Eggs op Ardea herodias. — A letter from M. K. 
Barnmn. of Syracuse, N. Y., states : “ I liave lately collected a large 
number of eggs of the Great Blue Heron, and nearly every nest examined 
contained five, instead of the ‘ two or three ’ given by you as the number 
(Birds N. W., p. 519). In one case there were six. When less than four 
were found in a nest, they were invariably fresh; whence I infer that in 
such instances the birds had not finished laying. Audubon, I believe, also 
gives the number as only three : if his observations were correct, the birds 
laying in this vicinity offer an exception to the rule.” — Elliott Coues, 
Washington, D. C. Btlll, N»OtO* 5»*Jvilyj 1880 , P« / ^ r J ■ 
Great Blue Heronry. —I went to a her¬ 
onry near here and took one hundred and 
three eggs (twenty-five sets) of the Great 
Blue Heron. They ranged from two to six 
in each set. Audubon says the Great 
Blue Heron lays three eggs, and Coues in 
Birds of the N. W. says: “Two or three 
eggs are laid, probably never more.” I 
have taken about two hundred and seventy 
eggs of this bird and have always found 
from three to six eggs in a full set. In 
only two cases have I found six, and I 
consider that an unusually large number ; 
but five is very common. In my last ex¬ 
pedition the sets were as follows: nine of 
five eggs, nine of four, three of three, 
three of two, (all fresh), and one of six, 
besides a single egg.— Morgan K. Bur- 
num, Syracuse , N. y.O.fcO. VT(. Aug. 1882. p./Y/' 
1947- Cranes and Cormorants. Ibid No. 7-E«Sg«. Vol.1.1 
rdea herodias and Phalacrocorax dilophus. 
•m 3 . Malheur Lake, Oregon. By Capt. Chas. E. Bendire, U. S. A. 
dd., PP . 129 - 131 , 137, i 3 3.-Description of the lake and of the nest- 
,g there of the Great Blue Heron, White Pelican, and Double-crested 
ormorant, with measurements of eggs, etc. Q; * •> V V i V •' 
409 . Great Blue Heronry. By Morgan K. Barnum. /hid -.g- H7; 
At Syracuse, N. Y.; about 270 sets of eggs taken. J « 1 ' 
54. Nesting ofthe Great Blue Ileron in the West. By Elliott Coues. Ibid., 
XI p. 391 .—An account of its nesting along the Colorado River on 
shelves of rock in the cliffs bordering the river. J. A. A. -ifaiofago Ft© 
position, being usually less than twenty feet from 
the ground. My earliest date for j/full set was 
May 10. \ On May 13 two sets weje taken, one of 
four and the other of five eggs; both were slight¬ 
ly incubated. It was a great Surprise to me to 
learn how dWoted this bird is' to its nest. After 
incubation ha,s commenced; no noise or distur¬ 
bance is sufficient to drive the bird away. In 
several cases it\vas neffeessary to remove it by 
force before the'eggs/eould be secured. After 
being robbed, it alpTbst immediately begins the 
excavations of a hole for a second set of eggs. 
This is always in tnie vicinity of the first, often in 
the same tree. Their attachment for their nests 
is an additional trait of character which should 
commend these birds to ofig protection. Besides, 
the fact of/its being a permanent resident and 
thus an ever useful “ insecticide,” renders it one of 
the most j/eneficial of the PicidVe. 
The eggs of this species are in 'size and general 
iarance so much like those of the Red-headed 
jdpecker that they cannot be distinguished, 
jaking exchanges of Woodpecker’keggs with 
k faith in the reliability of the collechsiris an 
itial factor. 
A Visit to a Heronry. 
BY EDWIN P. NORTHRUP. 
a swamp on the north shore of Oneida Lake, 
_., the Great Blue Herons , {Ardea herodias,) con¬ 
gregate every Spring to breed. For several acres 
nearly every tree contains one or more nests of 
these strange birds. Their eggs have a scientific 
value of about thirty cents each and can be ex¬ 
changed for other eggs at that price. 
On May 11, 1883, my friend John Dakin, a 
close observer and an honest man, with myself 
made a visit to this place for the purpose of col¬ 
lecting eggs and studying the breeding habits of 
the Herons. We found we were ten days too 
late for obtaining fresh eggs; so on the follow¬ 
ing Spring we repeated the visit, but at an earlier 
date. 
Thinking it may interest the readers of the 
Ornithologist and Oologist to learn about 
this curious place and to read the experiences of 
two ardent collectors, I cull from my notes the 
material for this article. In accordance with our 
plan, May 1, 1884, found us at 3.30 in the morn¬ 
ing, seated at the table of Nett Wood’s, in Brew- 
erton, eating heartily of a warm breakfast, for we 
knew a hard day was before us. After breakfast 
we started off by the light of a lantern, in a boat 
loaded with guns, baskets, climbers, lunch, birch- 
beer, and other equipments necessary for a col- 
1993 - 
Crane 
Breeding Habits of Ardea herodias as seen 
Town. By [R.] B. [Trouslot.] Ibid., No. 6, J» 
Hooslsf atCK&liBt* V ok ie 
during a Visit to 
n., 1886, p. 81. 
ZZ. 
lector’s use. After having rowed in the darkness 
for some time, we reached Great Bay swamp in 
w'hich the Herons breed. The entrance to the 
heronry is a road used in Winter for drawing 
wood, but which at this season of the year is cov¬ 
ered, as is all the rest of the swamp, with from 
two to three feet of water. This road runs back 
a mile or more to dry land and passes the heron¬ 
ry a few rods to the west. Along this water road 
we poled the boat without much difficulty, till 
we were opposite the nests. But when we left 
the road and pushed the boat into the unbroken 
swamp, it became harder work. Logs had to be 
gone around or the boat dragged over them, 
brush to be cleared away and many other annoy¬ 
ances to be overcome. But at last we found our¬ 
selves in the midst of the heronry, and a wild 
place it is. The flooded land extends back from 
the lake shore for about one and a half miles and 
much farther along the shore. 
Between the 25th of March and the first week 
in April, the Great Blue Herons begin to congre¬ 
gate in this swamp to breed. From that time 
until their eggs are laid, they may be seen flying 
to and fro in the swamp carrying large sticks in 
their bills with which to repair their nests. I 
say repair, for the Herons seem to be attached to 
their old nests and to use the same ones year after 
year. 
The timber in the swamp is all Black Ash and 
grows very high, branching at the top. The trees 
are slender, varying from one to three feet in di¬ 
ameter, and are readily climbed with spurs, that 
is if one is an adept at using them. Several hun¬ 
dreds of these nests, built in the crotches of the 
limbs, are grouped together at one place in the 
swamp and cover a space nearly or quite half a 
mile across. Nearly every tree which rises to the 
general height of the rest and which has favor¬ 
able crotches, contains from one to four nests. 
Two, however, is the more usual number in one 
tree, four being seldom found. The nests are 
constructed of sticks about one-fourth to half an 
inch in diameter. A large bundle is laid on a 
crotch and lined with finer twigs, making a flat 
nest from twenty-five to forty inches in diameter. 
Audubon describes the Great Blue Heron’s 
nests in the south as being lined with a layer of 
weeds, but there is nothing of this kind here. 
The nests and tree tops are all white from the 
droppings of the birds, which, possibly, has a 
tendency to kill the trees, as many have dead 
tops. From the higher trees one can look down 
into many nests, all of which contain eggs. The 
usual number is three or four, and many nests 
contain five, a few have two, and John found one 
