136 MASS. (Middlesex Co.) 1875. June 1 Haunts of the Night herons. June 1-1875. The short bills among the fine meadow grass. The song of C. stellatus is chip, chip, ts-ts-ts, thefinal trilled quite pretty. That of C. Palustris is likewise a trill but dry gratulated & almost harsh: it reminds me exactly of the battle of a chain jump but is less loud. Both species have a scolding chatter indistinguishable from each other, and very like that of Y. alcedo. Their flight is slightly undulating and very neat & field. C. palustris frequently mount straight up in the air to the height of 15 ft or so and drop again into the grass. Found a partially constructed nest of C. palustris. Next struck into the maple swamp beyond Block is where the night herons haunt and searched it through so thoroughly as to satisfy myself that the birds do not breed there. About 25 birds now roosting in the trees over the brook and I shot down three of them in three shots as they flew over my head but two faling off a short distance. I lost though I distinctly heard them crash through the cane. The only one secured was in very poor field ornamentation & showed no signs of breeding. Afterwards I searched all the other woods on or near the meadow & am now sure that that birds do not breed here at all, & are probably barren individuals. About half were immature. On the brook was a rich lysinge anistette and this evening had the chorus of these birds as they passed over our place and have heard them before some imes lately. Crossing the brook & entering the maple swamp on the further side