76 BULLETIN" 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Wetmore did not succeed in finding it in 1927, but Danforth observed 

 one at the Laguna del Salodillo, near Copey, June 26, 1927. 



The earliest report for Haiti is that of Ritter who speaks of find- 

 ing the egret near Fort Royal and says that he secured a specimen. 

 Bartsch recorded it at Trou Caiman, April 4, 1917, and on the coastal 

 flats north of Port-au-Prince April 25. Beebe reports that during 

 the late winter and early spring of 1927 a solitary bird flew back and 

 forth past his schooner anchored off the Bizoton wharves to feeding 

 and resting places. Danforth saw three at Les Salines July 30, 1927. 

 Bond shot one at Trou Caiman January 15, 1928, and saw another 

 at the same point on June 15. 



The egret is found usually in mangrove swamps, in shallow bays, 

 or along the reefs of the coastal region. Its long pursuit by man 

 for the handsome plumes that adorn its back in the breeding season 

 have brought the species near extermination throughout its range, 

 and constant persecution has made the few survivors wary and dif- 

 ficult of approach. Now that fashion has been informed that the 

 decorative plumes are at their highest stage only when young birds 

 are hatching in the nest so that when the parents are killed the 

 young are left to starve sentiment has turned tardily in favor of the 

 egret and there is no longer a market, other than a surreptitious one, 

 for the beautiful feathers that have brought the species so near ex- 

 tinction. In the southern United States egrets are increasing under 

 this protection but unfortunately in tropical America the country 

 man still has in mind the former high value of " Garza" plumes 

 and is inclined to kill the birds at every opportunity. It is highly 

 desirable that this attitude change as the species is one of those 

 graceful and interesting forms whose esthetic appeal when alive far 

 outweighs the value of the few filamentous feathers that may be 

 cut from its dead body that is then cast aside in the stinking mud 

 of the swamps and left a prey to scavenger crabs and flesh flies, 

 while its young slowly starve in the trees above. 



The egret is the largest of the herons of pure white plumage in 

 this region, being a little more than a meter in length with the wing 

 measuring about 381 mm. In life it is distinguished by large size 

 coupled with yellow bill and black tarsi. 



EGRETTA THULA THULA (Molina) 

 SNOWY HERON, GARZA BLANCA, CRABIER BLANC, QTTOCK BLANC 



Ardea TKula Molina, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chili, 1782, p. 235 (Chile). 



Aigretta, Descourtilz, Voy. Nat., vol. 2, 1S09, pp. 227-228 (mentioned). 



Ardea alba minor, Descouktilz, Voy. Nat., vol. 2, 1809, pp. 62-63 (plain of 

 the Artibonite). 



Herodias candidissima, Salle, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1S57, p. 236 (listed). — 

 Hitter, Naturh. Reis. Westind. Insel Hayti, 1836, pp. 151-157 (Fort Royal).— 



