THE AMERICAN EGRET IN FLIGHT 
CHAPTER VIII 
THE EGRET, IN NATURE AND IN FASHION 
Vainly the fowler s eye 
Afiglit mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong. 
Bryant. 
T he splendid snow-white heron known as the Amer¬ 
ican Egret, one of the few kinds which bear the 
aigrette plumes of millinery and commerce, is among 
the waning species of America. In Audubon’s time it was 
common all over the southeastern quarter of the country. 
Now there is but a pitiful remnant in the southern part of 
Elorida, and a few other spots. Indeed it is generally sup¬ 
posed that there are practically none outside of Florida. So 
when I made a trip to another part of the South, to study and 
photograph birds, the Egret was not reckoned in as a likeli¬ 
hood, and but barely a possibility. 
