The Snowy Egret 215 



birds let fall, but undoubtedly they eat many of the young Egrets that fall 

 from the nest. I have been told by wardens that alligators sometimes 

 shake or jar the bushes with the object of spilling the young birds 

 out ; of the truthfulness of this statement, however, I know of no satis- 

 factory proof. 



Young Egrets are fed chiefly on small fish, which the parent regurgi- 

 tates into their mouths. The old Egrets in gathering food for them- 

 selves or young often make journeys of several miles from the rookery 

 to their favorite feeding-grounds, where they get their prey while wading 

 in the water. Ordinarily you need not expect to find them feeding where 

 there are many trees, as for example in a swamp, nor on shores the 

 borders of which are paved with sand or pebbles, but 

 you must go to the marshes. Here, where often the Feeders 



water is only a few inches deep, the small life found 

 about the submerged bases of the marsh grasses provides food for 

 the minnows that the Egrets love. Some members of the Heron family 

 have the habit of standing still and capturing the fish that swim near them, 

 or they will stalk through the water, very stately and dignified, keeping 

 an eye out the while for any finny prey. 



The Snowy Egret appears seldom to employ these methods. On the 

 Orton plantation, in southeastern North Carolina, there is a pond a 

 few miles in length, the dam for which was built by negroes in the 

 days of slavery. This body of water is used for flooding the rice-fields 

 of the plantation. It is a famous place for bird-life. In one of the nar- 

 row arms of the pond, which runs back into a cypress swamp, there is 

 situated a rookery of perhaps two thousand Herons of different species. 

 Should you visit this colony some day in May you would be able after 

 a little watching to see a number of Snowy Egrets caring for their young. 

 The parents are continually coming and going at all hours of the day. 

 You may see a solitary Snowy Egret come flying in over the lake, go to 

 its nest, feed its young, preen its feathers for a time, 

 and then start off for more food. Nearly all of them Y a J* 



come from the same direction. Not long ago I dis- 

 covered their favorite feeding-ground. It was a brackish-water marsh 

 close to the ocean, and about fifteen miles from where the birds had their 

 nests. 



One day I hid in a tall clump of grass to see what would come near. 

 I had not long to wait before a Snowy Egret lightly dropped into the 

 water not a hundred feet away. Evidently it was hungry or knew that its 

 young were, for it immediately began a most vigorous quest for min- 

 nows. With the most astonishing agility it ran here and there through 

 the water, its bright yellow eyes evidently discovering many objects of 

 interest. With lightning-like rapidity the bill shot downward for min- 

 nows, and I suspect it rarely missed its prey. A Louisiana Heron came 

 along and began feeding near by. The Snowy rushing here and there 

 suddenly found itself face to face with its more sedate neighbor. In- 



