A Trip to a Heronry. 
Night Heron’s Nest. 
June 7, I visited, in company with a 
friend, a tract of land inhabited by Night 
Heron s, in the southern part of Rhode 
Island. Even at that comparatively early 
date, most of the nests contained young 
birds, and those too, nearly full grown. 
As our visit was limited to the short space 
of an hour, we were content to obtain a 
few eggs and birds, and not to explore the 
whole place, which probably covered sev¬ 
eral acres of land. The entrance to the 
swamp was a narrow cow-path, on each 
side of which the briars were so closely in¬ 
terwoven that one was hardly able to pene¬ 
trate. 
As we came towards the heronry, nu¬ 
merous cries of “quack,” “quack,” were 
•heard, and the birds immediately left the 
nests and hovered over the place. On 
glancing at the trees within, we could see 
numerous nests, with young birds stretch¬ 
ing their long necks over the sides. The 
trees mostly chosen were maples, and every 
tree contained from six to twelve nests. 
At the foot of the trees, egg shells, dead 
fish, and here and there dead birds were 
dlST X^’l\[ ’aOUJCL 0![^ /iUtpST.V no .icq : 3 uou[ 
quioddnsip cq pattioop si;av piq qoy pjiqq. 
Snunoas jo a.ms jf^ard Avon srav j 
qas p.iiqq -Iraqi joj Xpua.i q py>q eorcj proqs 
v ut pun saSnmnp .nndaa cq q.ioAt oq qss cq 
unSaq Xpqtitpeunni iaqq qnq ‘m.icqs v, Xq 
paXcuqsap jfqni^jnd suav q uaq.w paqapluioo 
Apmou X.I8A SBAV qsau aqjp -spooAV aqq jo 
dno iqoiqq aqq ‘suaej^ aq^ jo ^sar aqq ui ireqq 
uaAa ayeoqap Xppsmbxa aroui pun laiqSq si 
BY J. M. W., NORWICH, CONN. 
May 17th, I ’ - - 1 — 
heronry at the 
j two small flsh 
which was a si 
j and will not q 
i ony. This h 
[ and some seasQLQGIST 
Fisher’s Isis 
not common] 
cut shore, 
fluctuated 
[Vol. 12-No. 7 
--- 
suddenly to the ground and saved itself from 
j, i its dread enemy by taking refuge in an old tin 
,1 can. After the hawk had passed the sparrow 
u came out oJ! ' ts ifnprovised fortress and flew 
, away in safety. 
tion ceasing fq 
and in 1882 it \ 
mous nests tl A new Needle for Ornithological Use. 
on the outsid i_ 
being sudden] 
great cloud. 
tell the numt Readers of the O. and O. Who use ordinary 
coming out 1 needles for sewing their birdjskius do not know 
hundred and what a luxury is in stor\ for them when they 
BY W. El SAUNDERg. 
e to replace the time- 
tree tops and invest in a surgeon's neei 
eggs, and by i honored variety. The codftnon needle punches 
the colony is i a hole in the skin and whim drawn through to 
Entering tli the eye sticks, because the 'eye and thread are 
till one peneti larger than the hole. Thefa the hole is torn 
none at presei larger and the thread dragged through until a 
but they are i a feather or a little cotton catches on it and it 
and a few red sticks again ; it is then pulled back, the offend- 
sixteen feet, ing material taken off and a ne^ start is made. 
17th, and no j We all know how Aggravating‘phis is, having 
so this was f experienced it many times, 
single eggs i in the surgeon’s needle there is a great im- 
were many j provement, a sharp point with a broad, flat 
easy to tell tli blade, which cuts a hole large enough to let 
broken egg s the eye and thread pass easily ano^ obviating 
pick out fresl subsequent entanglement, 
tree trunks, a 
beneath the u p. 
but live were 
sets being ab< 
was seen, no 
to the long di 
nest-washing 
Pat. Aug. ii, 1885. 
F. G. Otto & Sons, Sole Agents. 
n..<. i_ 
101. The Night Herons and their Exodus. By Samuel Lockwood. 
American Naturalist, Vol. XII, pp. 23-35, Jan. 1878.—An interesting pop¬ 
ular account of experiences with “ Nyctiardea gardeni Baird.” jLfiB&Vo HN TOX&iist 
Mountain Birclp NyCtlCOraX n y cticorax nsevius. Black-crowned Night Heron. — 
Of A ri 'On ^’ eV61al were shot at Mormon Lake during the last days of May. There 
Q, Q a 
are several rookeries of this species in the canons of the upper Verde and MearnB » , 
its tributaries. It is a permanent resident in the Verde Valley. Auk, VII. Jan. 1890. 
1023. The Night Heron. By S. T. Denton. Ibid., No. 2, pm 9, IO , 
—Account of one kept in confinement. Hi 9 4 $£ 
917. A Visit to a Heronry. By Uurtis. 101a., juiy p. 
cality, Massachusetts; species, *Nyctiardea gardeni.' 'VyOj. 
272. Night Herons in Winter. By Henry Hales. Ibid., VI, p. 6.— 
Habits-‘of a-teuiiojhdividual kept by the writer at Ridgewood, N. J. 
697. Night Herons Breeding on the Marsh. By Delos Hatch Ibid 
p. 23. —Nesting in the grass and rushes of a 
p.fv 
marsh in Wisconsin. Ot & Q-VqIjVIIJ 
