Congdon—Saskatchewan Birds. 
591 
the specimens taken, being very short, almost round. The sizes 
vary from 1.81 to 2.30 in length; and from 1.43 to 1.52 in 
breadth. 
194. Great Blue Heron. 
Ardea herodias (Linn.). 
Although this bird was not found in great numbers, indi¬ 
viduals were occasionally seen following the courses of creeks 
or feeding along the borders of streams or lakes. As the bird 
flies by, overhead, with its long neck and its longer legs—the 
latter projecting behind on a downward slant—it presents an 
odd appearance. One of the settlers stated that large numbers 
of these birds nested in a colony at a small lake near Crooked 
Lake, but the place was not visited. The only nest of this Heron 
that came under observation was situated in the Cormorant 
colony at Basin Lake. The nest was similar to the Cormorant’s 
nest but somewhat larger. It was situated in the crotch of a 
half-fallen tree, about, nine feet from the surface of the water 
in which the timber was standing. The bird was seen to leave 
the nest. The material used in constructing the nest was sticks 
and twigs, the depression being lined with grass and weeds. 
The tree in which the nest was built was in a tangle of dead 
timber standing in several feet of water at the 1 border of the 
lake. The nest contained five eggs which were well started in 
incubation. The eggs are greenish-blue in color, and elliptical 
in shape. The five eggs taken measure: 2.23x1.71; 2.30x 
1.72; 2.38x1.75; 2.39x1.75, and 2.41x1.74. 
202. Black-crowned Higiit Heron. 
Nycticorax nycticorax naevius (Bodd.). 
A hundred or more of these birds were found nesting in a 
colony at Water-hen Lake. Often about sundown ten or fifteen 
of the birds were seen standing in the shallow water along the 
edge of the Carrot Elver, or wading about on the muddy banks 
in search of food. This Heron is more stocky in build and has 
shorter legs and neck than most of the Herons and is not as un¬ 
gainly in appearance. 
The rookery of these birds was situated in the thick rushes 
not far from the shore of the lake. The rushes grew so thickly 
