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A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINK 

 DEVOTfc-D TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Official Organ of The Audubon Societies 



Vol. XII January— February, 1910 No. 1 



The Taming of a Great White Heron 



By NORMAN McCLINTOCK 



With a [iliotoKrapli liy thr author 



SEVERAL winters ago, I was sailing amongst the Florida Keys, south of 

 Miami, and one day landed on a small island, where lived some fishermen. 

 While wandering about the island, I spied, at a distance, a beautiful 

 specimen of the Great White Heron (Ardea occidentalis). The bird, which 

 looked as if it had been carved out of marble, was silhouetted against the sea, 

 but I so maneuvered as to bring the foliage of a mangrove tree as a background 

 for the bird's snow-white plumage. I then stalked the bird and, realizing the 

 shyness of the species, I began to take pictures at a very respectful distance. 



When the first drop of my focal-plane shutter did not put the bird to flight, 

 I moved a few steps nearer and made another exposure. This operation I repeated 

 some six or eight times, until I got within about twenty feet of the Heron, when 

 it took flight. 



My surprise at this success was great, but it was later explained by the fisher- 

 men, who, I found, had made a pet of the bird. They told me they had caught 

 it when very }'oung upon another Key, and that, by systematically feeding it, 

 they were able soon to give it its freedom, without the Heron showing any desire 

 to leave their fishing station, where it voluntarily remained throughout the year. 



The extent of the taming of this beautiful Heron was such that had I been 

 one of the familiar fishermen, with a fish in my hand instead of a camera, T prob- 

 ably could have handed the fisli to the bird. 



Now I venture the assertion that there are today few American birds that will 

 be found as wild and as shy as the Great White Heron. Hunted by man, almost 

 to the point of extermination, the majority of the remaining individuals of this 

 species have been driven to the most inaccessible localities. 



It accordingly seems to me that the accompanying photograph of this rare 

 and beautiful bird, which I took upon the occasion mentioned, offers a striking 

 illustration of what can be expected from the continued kind treatment of any of 

 our wild creatures. 



