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 jBtote^ from jptelD anD ^tutip Does the Green Heron Fish in Deep Water ? That the Green Heron is an habitual wader is well known to ail who are familiar with it, hut that it will g(j into water be- yond its depth is a fact I have not seen re- corded. One day in September, 1898, I observed an individual of this species stand- ing on the edge of a plank projecting some six inches out of water. Seeing that he was on the lookout for prey, I watched him closely, wondering why he had chosen so inconvenient a place from which to fish, when presently, as if to show that he un- derstood perfectly well what he was about, he suddenly and without the least hesita- tion, plunged into the water after a fish that had come to the surface some three or four feet away. Although he missed his aim, the effort was well meant and. to judge by appearances, not the first of the kind. Turning about in the water, he rose from it with little difficulty and with a few Haps was back on the plank, where, shaking out his plumage, lie proceeded to plume him- self carefully. Before he had completed this operation he was unfortunately fright- ened off by the approach of some i)oys. The scene of the above incident was a deserted irmi pit, which, lying in a low place, has for several years been more or less deeply flooded, according to season and rains. Having become well stocked with small fish and frogs, and offering the addi- tional attractions of mud fiats, shallows and consideralile seclusion, this old iron pit, somewhat over an acre in extent, has been a favored feeding ground for both Cxreen Herons and tluir larger relatives, Night Herons. To further describe, the plank spoken of above was a remaining jiart of the old shaft. Tiiis, at the tinu- in (piis- ticiM, was well (lilt in tin- pool and sur- rounded on all sides by water ranging hum three to six feet deej). With these facts iiefore us, two jioints are clear. First, there was nothing to pre- (•4 vent, but on the contrary everything to urge this Heron to feed in the usual way; second, in plunging into the pool where he did he entered water so much beyond his depth that he could not possibly have touched bot- tom in a way to assist him in getting out. That this one instance of an individual Green Heron plunging into deep water after food proves such to be a natural habit of the species can hardly be said. I would add, however, that further study of the feed- ing habits of the Green Heron, with a view to settling this question, convinces me that a quite usual method of fishing is for it to watch from a stand a few inches above the water and from there to jump quickly down upon its prey. — Samuel H. B.arker, IVyn- cote. Pa. Notes on the Ruby -throated Humming- bird We have had Ruby -throated Humming- birds for many years regularly in our gar- den, but did not find any nest till 1898. We were then greatly gratified by finding a nest on an apple tree. The old birds were very tame when they had young ; a photograph was taken of the female feeding only a yard from the camera. Next year we were surprised that they had built their nest on a low branch of a pear tree, that one could reach. The nest was seen as soon as commenced; only the foun- dation was laid on a thin outer branch, which was added to every morning till coTnpleted. There was no appearance of iuirry, for it took two weeks to finish the nest. The building went on so slowly that I some- times thought it would be abandoned. I saw only the female take any part in the work. Tb.e motion of the bird while shaping the nest w;is comical, bouncing down and turning around (juickiy. Witat was wanting in weight was made up in energv. lite nest was Iniilt with vegetable wool, I think the woolly part of the seed-