SNOWY HERON. 87 



the central parts of New England. It arrives in the United 

 States from the South early in April, and passing inland, at 

 length proceeds up the valley of the Mississippi, and even 

 ascends the borders of the Arkansas, thus pursuing an extensive 

 inland route to the final destination in the wilds of Canada. 

 It departs from the Middle States, towards its hibernal desti- 

 nation in the South, in the course of the month of October. 



Like most of the summer visitors of this family, the Snowy 

 Heron confines its residence to the salt-marshes, where its bril- 

 liant whiteness renders it a conspicuous object at a distance. Its 

 food, as usual, consists of small crabs, worms, snails, frogs, and 

 lizards, to which fare it also adds at times the seeds of the pond- 

 lilies and other aquatic plants. About the middle of May nest- 

 building commences ; and Wilson describes one of these heron- 

 ries situated in a sequestered clump of red cedars, at Summer's 

 Beach, on the coast of Cape May. The spot chosen, with the 

 usual sagacity of the tribe, was separated on the land side by 

 a fresh- water pond, and sheltered from the view of the Atlantic 

 by ranges of sand-hills. The cedars, though low, were so 

 densely crowded together as scarcely to permit a passage 

 through them. Some of the trees contained three or four nests 

 in each, constructed wholly of sticks. The eggs, about three 

 in number, were of a pale greenish-blue color, and measured 

 one inch and three quarters in length. On approaching the 

 premises, the birds silently rose in great numbers ; and alighting 

 on the tops of the neighboring trees, they appeared to watch 

 the result of the intruding visit in silent anxiety. Assembled 

 with them were numbers of the Night Herons, and two or three 

 of the purple-headed species. Great quantities of egg-shells 

 lay scattered under the trees, occasioned by the depredations 

 of the Crows who were hovering in the vicinity. Wherever the 

 Snowy Herons happen to wander through the marshes, or 

 along the borders of the rivers and inlets, they regularly return 

 in the evening to their favorite roost in the cedars of the 

 beach. 



The young, of both this and the preceding species, are 

 generally fat, and esteemed by some as palatable food. 



