Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-08
Written for The Evening Star.
TRIP TO A HERONRY,

written for The Evening Star.
TRIP TO HERONRY,
With the Blue Heron in His Isolated Breed
| ing Ground.
WHO Is THERE ACCUSTOMED TC
w walking near streams or marshes that hal
not occasionally startled a large bluish-gray
bird from some favored retreat, seen him spring
into the air with harsh "q-u-e-a-ck," take o reel
In his long neck and, with legs Strengthened
out behind, fly rapidly out Of harms reach te
more secluded quarters? Such is the great blue
heron, or blue crane, as he is more commonly
called, bird so wild, wary and SO cunning
that 1t is one Of the most difficult of all birds tc
approach, even within rifle shot, to say nothing
| OF closer inspection for observation. If one
wishes to study this wader the best possible
place to go is to the breeding grounds. Now
to the casual observer the general appearance
and structure of the bird would indicate q
ground breeder, but here again is where mp.
pearances are sadly deceiving, for the tops Of
the tallest trees are chosen, usually in some
isolated swamp, and here the birds congregate
| In immense numbers to breed in company.
VISIT TO A HERoNRY
| is an event Of unusual interest. 1t is one Of
the widest, most weird and fascinating trips
| that one can take. and while attended with nc
| small amount of hardship and exposure, I never
heard any one regret having made the venture.
Unfortunately there is no hcronry in the imme-
| diate vicinity Of Washington known to the
| writer, although the birds themselves are not
uncommon.
One Of the largest rookeries in the east is Of
Great Bay swamp, situated on the northwestern
shore Of Oneida lake, in Oneida county, N. Y,
and from time immemorable it has been the
breeding ground Of thousands Of these herons.
Having our enthusiasm fred by vivid accounts
Of the place by persons who had made the trip.
with bird-loving companion I decided to
| undertake to visit it.
There was no tramping through swamp and
brier on balmy spring morning. or any such
swamp work as that to which We had been &C
customed.
HARD WORK.
The great blue heron breeds in early April,
and begins to nest long before the ice is gone
from the lake and while the spring floods are at
high water mark. As a consequence We went
prepared for rough work, and we got it. Leav-
ing the little village Of Beaverton in q row boat
we pulled up the lake in the face of biting east
| wind, and rounding Dry Land point made for
| the opposite shore of the bay. Once there the
| work began, and for the next twenty-fo hours
| it was one continual round Of exertion and en-
durance. Our only directions had been to
follow an old road which we would find Just
after passing the shanty," which last was readily
found, and then for two hours we sought an
entrance to the swamp, by first one blind trail
| to seven feet deep over the swamp, filed with
| floating ice, logs and brush, and when at length
the right road was found it was SO choked with
the stuff that it was next to impossible to make
Roadway. We were encouraged In our efforts,
however, by the glimpse Of an occasional heron
| flying overhead in the direction we supposed
the heronry to be. At length, when one carry
| ing a slender branch in its beak passed over, we
felt assured that We were going in the right d.
rection, and after over an hours pulling and
| shunting about in the ice and drift we struck
| the ridge of which we had been told and once
more stood on dry land.
IN THE MIDST OF THE HEROINE
Herons could now be seen flying in every di.
rection. and In the surrounding fiat were gath
ering sticks for nest building. After thor
ough rest we pushed off into the swamp once
more, following no road but winding about
among the trees and logs. and in few minutes
were in the midst of the heronry. And what q
| sight! Tall tammarack trees standing closely to-
gether, containing from one to three nests each
great bundles Of sticks the size of bushel bas-
ket; the trees in white with the droppings of the
birds; herons perched about or flying from
place, "quaking" with alarm at the invaders
while others watched from a safe distance, well
| knowing from experience Of former years what
the invasion meant. We had come for eggs III
well as birds, SO atrapping on the climbers 1 as
| cended the nearest tree containing these nests
| ArsrRANaE SIGHT.
What sigh. it was! In every direction acres
and acres of nests that lent grayish aspect t.
| the whole swamp. Il would be no exaggeratior
to say that three thousand nests, more or less
were visible from where I sat. Herons were
perched on hundreds Of the trees, while thu
number flying about were innumerable. tolG
my companion to fire his gun, and at the re-
port pandemonium reigned supreme Will
loud cries thousands of herons arose in the al,
and circled overhead: rapidly rising in the all
out of gunshot. but never leaving the
breeding ground. What majestic sigh
1t was to see this vast host of stately birds sail
ing overhead, how gracefully they turned ant
| twisted as they passed and repassed over thei,
homes and how watchful and wary lest they
came within reach of the guns concealed be-
low. At length, one little more daring thar
the rest received good dose Of No. 8 and WA
ours. 1t is an easy bird to kill and easy to hi
and we secured nine splendid specimens and
market basket full of eggs, frequently gettin5
as many as twelve from one tree. The nest
contained sets from three up to six. four beini
the usual complement. None Of the trees seel
by us contained more than three nests and whel
all three contained full set the climb was vel
repaid.
| THE RETURN JOURNEY.
cold, drizzling rain set in just as we startet
to return, increasing the discontinue, added I,
which we could not find the road and headed /,
blind manner for the lake. Progress o
length became impossible and we both had t.
get cut Of the boat in the icy water and pull
and haul the boat over and around fallen trees
the water frequently up to our waists Whsw
1t was cold and when at length we struck tn
lake we were 60 exhausted that we coult
scarcely stand. A stiff breeze blew from tn
east, and aided by 1t we finally landed at tn
wharf and staggered rather than walked to tn
friendly warmth Of the stove.
| IN FLORIDA.
Quite different trip was one taken in Florid
some years ago to Lake Margaret, near welaka
Here the beautiful white eyret little blue hero,
(the young Of which are pure white the frs
year, and white heron breed. Here was all tn
luxuriance Of . semi-tropicai climate, and tn
ice and snow of northern chimes unknown. Tn
breeding ground was located on an island, tn
nests placed ON the tops Of bushes or in Low
trees and easy OF access, the ground compara
lively dry, while the dazzling wilderness OF tn
birds lent q charm seldom seen. What beauti
full creatures they were! One almost hated h
kill one, dainty and delicate they appeared
With them were associated water turkeys an,
an occasional Louisiana heron, beautiful lady
Of the water, as the great Audubon called them
and rightly, too. The rookery was o small one
comparatively speaking, but none the lose inter
esting for that What comparison betwee,
this trip and the other, tropical aky, the al
warm and balmy, alligators baking IN the On,