As to the consumption of spruce cones and new growth mentioned in 
my report, at least three sources listed pine needles as possible inner nest 
lining material, but there was no mention of cones. The closest my find¬ 
ings have come to seed (cone) consumption by this species were quotes 
from Audubon, 1840 "...and the only seeds that I have found in its stom¬ 
ach were those of the Great Water Lily..."; and Wilson, 1832 "...and the 
seeds of splatter docks" (Bent, 1926). 
To date, other than adding 'nest lining' to the list, I can still only spec¬ 
ulate about what use or function the consumption of Black Spruce cones 
and new growth might serve for the species. 
One final note, ravens are listed as one of the few enemies of Great 
Blue Herons, often destroying their eggs or young fledglings. It is possi¬ 
ble that the "nest building behavior" that I observed from a distance on 
16 May, was in reality a partial dismantling of the nest in an attempt to 
get at the eggs or fledglings while the adult herons were absent. This sce¬ 
nario would be more consistent with raven behavior in the sense that the 
species tends to nest earlier in the year, and is known to be aggressive 
towards nesting herons. 
LITERATURE CITED AND CONSULTED 
Bent, A.C. 1926. Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds 
Smithsonian Institution US National Museum Bulletin No. 135 
Bull, J. 1974. Birds of New York State Doubleday/Natural History Press, 
Garden City,NY 
Butler, R.W. 1992 Great Blue Heron In The Birds of North America, 
No.25(A.Poole,P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.) Philadelphia: The 
Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American 
Ornithologist's Union 
Ehrlich, P.R, D.S. Dobkin and D. Wheye 1988 The Birder's Handbook, 
Simon & Schuster, NY 
Terres, J.K. 1980 The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American 
Birds Alfred A. Knopf NY 
10 
The Kingbird 2000 March; 50(1) 
