Evening star., 1902-03-01

until the nesting season was at its height
SO l did not visit the spot until the first
part Of May. l was anxious to obtain a
photograph before the foliage of the syca-
moreS, in which the birds nest, became
dense.
When I spoke of the herons repairing
their nests l should have explained that, un-
like mCst of our birds, they use the same
nests over and over again, simply adding
few new sticks each year. In this manner
the nests become enormous affairs. often
measuring five or six feet across the top
and about two feet thick. They look like
the pictures of stOrkS' nests upon the
housetops abroad. They appear to be COM
posed solely of sticks of considerable size,
but l cannot be positive on this point. as
all the nests are at least 100 feet from the
ground and on the topmOst branches. The
accompanying photograph will give good
idea of the size and shape Of these huge
nests.
When. on that May day. my companion
and l reached the crest of the II Ugh bluffs
overhanging the stream. we worked our
way down through the timber and under
growth, often holding on to saplings to
avoid a long slide down the steep slope
The tender spring leaves of the forest trees
made soft Pickering shadows on last years
fallen leaves, and here and there masses of
deep green May apples opened their UNI
brella tops. which shaded great white waxy
flowers with golden stamens. Occasional
white trill1ums, wake robins nodded laZily
as the soft south wind found an opening
the slope high plants of the wild columbine
swayed their flowers as the low branches
of the beech seemed to reach down after
them. We stood for some time quietly
listening to the low, bell-like notes of the
wood thrush. There Is nothing in wood and
field that Is more typical than the song of
this bird. 1t invariably brings to my mind
long. cool bits of woodland Landscape with
beech trunks. silver and green, and all the
low noises which the trees make
Beautiful Blue Eggs.
Although have never been able to climb
up to the nests and the eggs, 1 have
found fragments of the latter under the
trees at the time the young are Matching
The egg is a beautiful blue, as is usual with
the whole heron family, and is quite
large During this visit 1 knew from the
number of eggshells upon the ground and
the noise overhead that many of the nests
contained young birds. AS soon as a brood
Is ready to fly they leave with their par
ents, and soon the heronry is deserted for
the season. From what l have seen of
the movements of these birds during the
nesting season l am confident that they
often feed at great Instances from the
herOnry. am also inclined to this belief
because If the birds fed close to home they
would be flushed oftener in the surround
Ing country.
The great blue heron is an extremely
striking and beautiful bird. The general
color tone Is blue or slate blue, with streaks
Of black. yellow and white on the throat
and lower surfaces. The crown is black
and there is spot of chestnut on the bend
Of the wing. No one could ever mistake
this great bird. for his size marks him
among all the rest of our Ma i've feathered
friends. The extreme length of the bird
approximates four feet and the extent of
wing between i've and six feet.
If you have never seen the heron late in
the twilight, as he wings his slow, stately
course athwart the last amber light of the
dying day, you cannot imagine how pictur-
esque he is. Indeed, his costume Of con-
and his poses are exquisite.
All Took to Wing.
When we walked out onto the creek bank
with our camera and tripod the whole
heronry took to wing with loud and curious
cries of alarm. What a glorious sight 1t
made! Great blue birds on wide wings
flying with lazy stroke against the azure
sky; beneath the white branches of the
sycamores showing their tender green
leaves and the huge nests of rough sticks.
l had visited the herons so often before
that knew it was but momentary alarm:
SO We focused the camera on a tree full OF
nests and waited. In a short time the
birds began to return to their nests. making
q wide circuit high over our heads to see
that we meant them no HARM In tw0s and
threes they settled near the nests In various
parts OF the big island. As the old birds
alfghted the young in the nests kept up an
incessant chattering 1t u impossible 20
give correct idea OF this queer. low noise.
az I know Of no other sound that - al ass
IKE It.
camera, 30 we took photograph OF the
tree top and moved further ap the creek
hne~ht NJ fha avcamorea in which these