eee feo eUsb ON ot LEN 3 
that all but one roost was located at or near the site of a great blue 
or black-crowned night heron colony. 
On September 1, 1938, Arthur S. Hawkins and Lee E. Yeager of 
the Illinois Natural History Survey observed these birds flying to a 
roost in a black willow swamp north of the Santa Fe railroad trestle 
near Chillicothe. For fully an hour before dusk a steady stream of 
birds arrived from nearby bottomland lakes. By sunset over 2,200 
individuals were counted entering this roost. The egrets covered the 
trees in a veritable snowy mantle. When I visited the roost on Sep- 
tember 8, I estimated that by dusk approximately 1,800 birds were 
present. 
The writer on September 23 observed egrets flocking to a roost 
at the upper end of Big Lake, near Banner, Illinois. They began to 
arrive at the roosting site as early as 4 P.M. The early arrivals fished 
for an hour or so before entering the roost. At first only scattered 
birds appeared, but as the sun started sinking they arrived in con- 
tinuous lines, flying to the roost. By dusk an estimated 500 indi- 
viduals had settled for the night in tall white elms and soft maples 
adjacent to the lake. 
Ferd Luthy of Peoria informs me that for a number of years 
American egrets have roosted at Big Lake during late summer. He 
states that on August 11, 1932, egrets were very numerous, being 
present all over the lake. He says they roost every night in the tim- 
ber adjacent to Big Lake, where 300-500 gathered—about twice the 
number that were present the previous year. By September 17, 1932, 
nearly all had departed, only one being seen on that date. He further 
states that on August 5, 1933, about 200 egrets were present. and ap- 
peared to be increasing daily. They began arriving about July 20. 
Another American egret roost was located on September 5, 1938, 
in the extensive bottomland timber between Crane Lake and the Sanga- 
mon River. On that date, 319 individuals were counted entering the 
roost along one flight line. Several other flight lines entered the roost. 
On the basis of counts made of the first flight line, it was estimated 
that 700 egrets congregated in this one tract of timber. 
A small roost of American egrets was noticed on September 29, 
1938, at Lake DePue, near DePue, Illinois. At that late date only 
70 birds were counted, roosting in three separate groups about the lake. 
In addition to the above-mentioned egret roosts, three others were 
known to exist. One roost, perhaps the largest along the river, was 
located in an ext2nsive tract of bottomland woods, across the river 
from Lake Senachwine, above Henry, Illinois. A second roost, a rel- 
atively small one, was in the floodplain forest of the Spoon River, 
within a few miles of Havana. A third roost was adjacent to Mere- 
dosia Bay, above Meredosia. Unfortunately, the number of egrets 
congregating at these places is not known. 
From the number of egrets censused on the various fluviatile 
lakes and from the number of individuals counted in four roosts, it 
is estimated that 7,000 American egrets were present during the sum- 
mer of 1938 in the Illinois River Valley. 
