192 EGRET— EIDER 



and those of the Snipe equal in size the eggs of a Partridge, Fer- 

 dix cinerea. He\vitson, from whom these instances are taken, 

 remarks : " The reason of this great disparity is, however, obvious ; 

 the eggs of all those birds which quit the nest soon after they are 

 hatched, and which are consequently more fully developed at their 

 birth, are very large." ^ It must be added, though, that the number 

 of eggs to be covered at one time seems also to have some relation 

 to their size, and this offers a further explanation of the fact just 

 mentioned with regard to the Snipe and the Partridge — the former 

 being one of those birds which are constant in producing four, and 

 the latter often laying as many as a dozen — for the chicks of each 

 run as soon as they release themselves from the shell (see Embry- 

 ology, Incubation). 



EGRET (French Aigrette, cognate with Italian Aghirone, and 

 Provencal Aigron — Latinized Egretta), a white Heron, remark- 

 able for the tufts of long filiform feathers ^ which spring from the 

 middle and lower part of its back, and take their name from the 

 bird which produces them. A small bundle of these feathers has 

 long been used among eastern nations as an ornament, and worn 

 in front of the turban, caftan, or other head-dress by personages of 

 high rank, being occasionally mounted with, or its form imitated 

 by, precious stones ; and the gift of an " egret " so bejewelled has 

 been one of the most distinguished marks of honour that could be 

 bestowed by an oriental ruler upon a favourite minister or successful 

 leader.^ The fashion has spread among western nations, and in the 

 "plume" that surmounts or until lately surmounted the "busby" 

 or " bearskin " of our artillery, hussars, and certain select regiments 

 of foot, it verges on the ridiculous, all the grace of the original 

 being lost in the horsehair that counterfeits its form. 



In Europe Ave have two species to which the name Egret 

 properly belongs. One is of large size, the Ardea alba, the other 

 much smaller, A. garzetta. The ""Egrittes " of Archbishop Neville's 

 Inthronization feast at York {temp. Edw. IV.) were no doubt 

 Lapwings. 



EIDER (Icelandic, ^Sw), a large marine Duck, the Somateria 

 mollissima of ornithologists, famous for its down, which, from its 



^ Hewitson, o]}. cit. Iiitrod. p. x. 



^ These feathers consist of fine barbs alone, without barbules, and though 

 soft as silk keep their stiffness. They are assumed only just before the breeding- 

 season, and hence the procuring of them destroys the birds at a most critical 

 moment (see Exterminatiox). In the "plume trade" they bear the name of 

 ' ' Ospreys " ! 



" The "egret" sent by the Sultan to Nelson after the battle of the Nile is 

 almost historical, and was apparently more valued by the hero than any other 

 gift he got. 



