HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS: Family Ardeidae [ 107 ] 



one that was located for many years at Linnton (Plate 16, B) near the 

 city limits of Portland and the bulky nests in tall trees are a familiar 

 sight to many Oregonians. 



The eggs are laid through the spring, usually in March and April, and 

 the summer is well advanced before the ungainly youngsters are able to 

 leave the nests to fish for themselves along the streams and ponds. The 

 parents feed them during the long nestling period in exactly the same 

 manner as described for the American Bittern, and the sight of a half- 

 grown youngster grimly following the contortions of its ungainly parent 

 is one never to be forgotten. 



Birds from the Portland colony are intermediates between this form 

 and the darker A. h. fannini but are somewhat closer to the latter in 

 coloration. Doubtless occasional wintering birds might well be typical 

 of the latter race, but to date we have not collected enough material to 

 determine this point with certainty. We both feel that Columbia River 

 birds are closer to such Puget Sound birds as we have had available for 

 comparison, but the material is not complete enough to warrant a final 

 statement. 



American Egret: 



Casmerodius alb us egretta (Gmelin) 



DESCRIPTION. "Plumage always pure white. Adult in nuptial plumage: scapular 

 plumes of dissected filamentose feathers covering back and reaching well beyond end 

 of tail; head and neck without crests or long feathers; feet and legs black; bill yellow; 

 usually blackish near tip. Post-breeding plumage and young: back without plumes. 

 Length: 37-41, wing 14.10-16.80, bill 4.2.0-4.90, tarsus 5.50-6.80." (Bailey) Nest: 

 Sometimes a loose platform of sticks in trees, at other times built on platforms of 

 bent-down tules. Eggs: 3 to 6, usually 4 or 5, pale bluish green. 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in Oregon and California and from Arkansas, Ten- 

 nessee, North Carolina, and Florida far south into South America. Winters over 

 most of breeding ground. In Oregon: Summer resident and breeding species of Harney 

 and Klamath Counties. Casual records in Lake County. Record of a single bird in 

 Multnomah County. 



THE AMERICAN EGRET (Plate 17, B), one of the showiest species found in 

 Oregon, arrives in April (earliest date, April n) and remains until late 

 October (latest date, November 19). The only breeding colonies now 

 known in the State are in Harney Valley and Upper Klamath Lake, and 

 if the birds are seen away from these areas, it is largely in late summer 

 during the postbreeding wanderings. The Harney Valley colony, the 

 northernmost known one of the species, was first reported by Bendire 

 (Brewer 1875), wno f un d "at least 300 nests," and has been an attrac- 

 tion to ornithologists ever since. For years it was the only known breed- 

 ing colony of these pure white herons in Oregon. The activities of plume 

 hunters and possibly other factors caused a gradual reduction in the 



