THE AMERICAN EGRET. 629 
No. 250. 
AMERICAN EGRET. 
A. O. U. No. 196. Herodias egretta (Gmel.). 
Synonyms.—Wuitrt Ecret. Great Wuire Ecret. CarirorNtA WHITE 
Ecrer. WeEsTERN Ecret. Waurre Herron. CanirorNrA Wut Heron. 
“WHITE CRANE.” 
Description.—Adult in breeding plumage: Entire plumage pure white; 
from the interscapular region originates a train of from forty to fifty elongated 
feathers, “‘aigrettes,” with enlarged and stiffened shafts, and decomposed fila- 
mentous webs, which reach from eight to twelve inches beyond the tail; lores 
orange; bill yellow; legs and feet black. Adults after the breeding season and 
immature: \Vithout elongated plumes on the back. Length (not counting 
plumes) 36.00-42.00 (914.4-1066.8) ; wing 15.00 (381); tail 6.75 (171.5); bill 
4.70 (119.4) ; tarsus 6.00 (152.4); middle toe and claw 5.40 (137.2). 
Recognition Marks.—Eagle size; pure white plumage; black legs and feet; 
heron habits; “aigrette’” train. 
Nesting.—Not certainly known to have bred in Washington. Nest: a mere 
platform of sticks in bushes near or over water. Eggs, 3-5, dull blue. Av. size, 
2.28 x 1.60 (57.9 x 40.6). 
General Range.—T'emperate and tropical America, from New Jersey, Min- 
nesota and Oregon south to Patagonia; casually on the Atlantic Coast to Nova 
Scotia.” 
Range in Washington.—Formerly probably summer visitor at close of 
breeding season. 
Authorities.—4Ardea occidentalis, Newberry, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., Vol. 
Wir eeinlVentSceaps@7- 
A SINGLE line in an ancient governmental quarto is our sole authority 
for the inclusion of this magnificent and once abundant Heron among the 
birds of Washington. But its former occurrence serves to point a moral 
very much needed, and to adorn a tale, which if trite to some ears, ought to 
make the ears of certain others tingle. 
‘ 
Know then, that the ‘‘aigrette’’ of fashionable millinery is solely the 
product of this and allied species of Herons; and that in their pursuit, at 
the behest of thoughtless women, depraved men, called plume-hunters, 
have reduced to the solitude of a few impenetrable swamps in the Ever- 
glades, this snow-white splendor which was once abundant from Florida 
to Oregon. 
The peculiar cruelty of this war of extermination lies in the fact that 
in order to secure the “‘aigrettes,” which are to nod and dance on some 
lady’s bonnet, the bird which owns them must be shot during the nesting 
season. ‘The magnificent train of feathers is provided only at this time 
