LEVY^ THE STORY OF AN EGRET 157 



no more ; even then it would be but a short time until he 

 appeared as hungry as ever. Such serious inroads were 

 made on the family larder that soon the egret was brought 

 into disfavor with the heads of the household, and when 

 one day he pecked and instantly killed a young chicken, 

 the parental wrath fell heavily upon Levy and his keeper. 



Hence it came about that the next day I bade farewell to 

 Levy and left him standing on the margin of a lake on 

 Horse Prairie^ some miles away. He must now earn his 

 living or perish. It seemed bad to treat him thus, but such 

 had been the decree at home and there appeared no help 

 for it; and his captor was young and possessed few re- 

 sources. 



A year later I drove one day by the shore of the lake on 

 Horse Prairie. Two hundred yards away in the shallow 

 water stood a magnificent American egret. It was over 

 three feet tall and its entire plumage was a spotless white. 

 On its back between the wings grew many long, airy plumes 

 which fell waving far beyond its tail. The skin of the bare 

 portions of its legs were black ; its long bright yellow beak 

 flashed like a dagger in the sunlight. 



With a spring the bird launched into the air and with 

 slow deliberate wing strokes flew for a quarter of a mile 

 down the shore and alighted. It was the embodiment of 

 elegance and grace of movement. Probably I had never 



