36 ALTKICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 



ment. This, however, is not always the case. The eggs of the white Pealei are 

 much smaller than are those of the blue-and-russet form. 



Mr. Audubon states that the young when just hatched are nearly naked, and are of a 

 dark color, there being only a few scanty tufts of long, soft down. When the feathers 

 begin to appear, they are white. The young are fed by regurgitation, grow fast, and 

 soon become noisy. When about a month old they sit upright on their nest, and 

 soon crawl out into the branches. Becoming sensible of danger, they hide among 

 the foliage whenever a boat approaches, or seek the interior of the Keys, where 

 it is very difficult to follow them. They do not fly until they are at least seven 

 weeks old ; and even then do not venture to leave the island on whicli they were 

 reared. Mr. Audubon caught several young birds of tliis form and kept them alive. 

 They fed freely, and became tolerably docile. They were su})plied with pieces of 

 green turtle, and some of them reached Charleston in good health. One was kept 

 alive for nearly two years by Rev. Dr. Eachman. It was allowed to walk at large in 

 the garden and poultry -yard, ate an enormous amount of fish and all kinds of garbage, 

 contenting itself, when other food was scarce, with the entrails of fowls ; and it even 

 fed freely on moistened corn-meal or mush. It caught insects with great dexterity, 

 was gentle and familiar, and a favorite in the kitchen, living to be twenty-two 

 months old, and retaining its white plumage to the last. This was a male bird. 



Two eggs of this Egret, collected in Cuba by Dr. Gundlach, are of a rounded oval 

 shape, equal at either end, and in color are of a very pale wash of Prussian blue very 

 slightly tinged with green. One measures 1.90 inches in length by 1.50 inches in 

 breadth ; the other 2.00 inches by 1.50. 



The russet form, known as rnfa, is also confined to the extreme southern border 

 of the United States. It is abundant in Florida, occurs along the Gulf coast to 

 Mexico, and is common in the southern part of Texas. It breeds in Cuba and in 

 several others of the West Indian Islands. It has been met with on the Pacific coast 

 of Guatemala, but has not, that I am aware, been traced farther north on the Pacific. 

 Mr. Dresser states, on the authority of Dr. Heermann, that it occurs in the summer 

 months near San Antonio, and also in the more eastern parts of Texas. Mr. March 

 includes it in his list of the birds of Jamaica, where it is mentioned as rare. It is 

 also included by Dr. Gundlach in his list of the birds of Cuba, and marked as having 

 been found breeding there. Mr. Salvin found it in company with its kindred, the 

 D. Pealei, on the mud-flats near Chiai^am, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. It was 

 the more abundant of the two forms. 



According to Audubon, this Egret is a constant resident on the Florida Keys, to 

 which it is so partial at all seasons that it never leaves them. Some individuals 

 were observed by him as far east as Cape Florida, and westward along the Gulf of 

 Mexico. He never saw it in other than salt water, and was not aware that it ever 

 feeds in fresh. It is more plump than most of the Herons, but possesses all the 

 gracefulness of its tribe. In walking it lifts its feet high, and usually proceeds at 

 a quiet pace. It alights with ease on trees, and can walk about on the larger 

 branches. It is rarely seen to feed on the edges of the Avater, but resorts to the 

 shallows of extensive mud or sand flats. There companies of twenty or thirty, or 

 even more, may be seen vading up to the knee-joint in pursuit of prey, usually 

 standing in silence, awaiting the approach of the object, and then striking at it. 

 The prey is either swallowed immediately, or, if too large, taken to the shore 

 and beaten, and then torn in pieces. It usually remains on the flats, thus feeding, 

 until the advancing tide compels it to retire to the land. This account of its 

 habits differs from the observations, referred to below, of Mr. Moore. 



