BIRDS FOLND IX BAYOUS AND MARSHES 95 



197. SNOWY UY.ROS. — Egrefta camUcIh.simn. 

 Family ; The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. 



Length: 23.50. 



Adults: Phmiage always pure wliite. 



Nuptial Plumage: Pure wliite; " aigrette " plumes hang like a white 

 fringe from interscapular region to beyond the end of the tail ; simi- 

 lar plumes on lower neck and forming an occipital crest ; V>ill black, 

 yellow at base ; legs black ; feet yellow. 



Young : Like adults after breeding season ; that is, white, with no inter- 

 scaj)ular plumes. 



Geographical Distribution : Temperate and tropical America ; on the 

 Pacific coast from Oregon to Buenos Ayres. 



Breeding Eange : As far north as Oregon. 



Breeding Season: April 15 to June 15. 



Nest : A loosely built platform of sticks ; placed in trees or bushes near 

 swamps. 



Eggs: 2 to 5 ; light bluish. Size 1.80 X 1.20. 



Beauty has proved a fatal dower to this exquisite 

 bird, which has become nearly extinct through the ravages 

 of the plume-hunters. " The delicate aigrettes which it 

 donned as a nuptial dress were its death warrant. 

 Woman demanded from the bird its wedding plumes, 

 and man has sui)plied the demand." The saddest part 

 of the whole sad story is the fact, not sentiment, that 

 the killing must be done during the nesting season ; 

 consequently the young, bereft of both parents, starve in 

 the nest. For every dainty aigrette in hair or bonnet, 

 a brood of baby hrrons has suffered excruciating, long- 

 continued torture, and death. \\\ (^difornia this heron 

 is a summer visitant to the interior valleys, but is by no 

 means common at any season of the year. 



