216 The Snowy Egret 



stantly it showed resentment; the long feathers on its head were raised 

 and the great mass of recurved plumes was elevated and spread out, 

 forming an elegant fan-like ruff across the back and sides. Also, it 

 promptly charged the Louisiana Heron in so fierce a manner that that 

 disconcerted individual hurriedly fled to a safe distance. 



The Snowy Egret is no small bully in the rookery, as many a venture- 

 some Heron knows to its sorrow. Let a Little Blue or Louisiana Heron 

 get too near a Snowy's nest, and it quickly finds itself in trouble. These 

 birds also spar much with each other, and a group of them about their 

 nests presents an animated scene. 



The Snowy Egret formerly bred as far north as New Jersey and 

 possibly Long Island, but this was many years 

 ago. At the present time we know of no colony of 

 this species north of Core Sound, North Carolina. 

 There are several rookeries in South Carolina, one of which, that 

 in the summer of 1917 contained about four hundred inhabitants, is 

 on a small island in the Stono River, near Charleston. The island 

 is owned by the National Association of Audubon Societies, which keeps 

 a guard there during all the period of nesting. If this was not done 

 the colony would be destroyed by gunners, just as the birds in hundreds 

 of other rookeries have been exterminated. The "aigrettes" that come 

 from the back of one Snowy Egret, and which are most perfect in the 

 nesting season, can now be sold for ten dollars. It is easy to see, there- 

 fore, that the four hundred birds breeding on the Audubon island in the 

 Stono River would bring four thousand dollars in the millinery markets. 

 Knowledge that money can be derived from killing the birds makes a 

 strong temptation to some classes of gunners to slip into the rookeries 

 and shoot the birds, if they can catch the warden away. Nearly every 

 summer there is a fight between the Audubon wardens 

 U( and would-be poachers. In these encounters two 



wardens have been killed and others wounded. It is, 

 of course, against the law to kill the birds, and also it is illegal in many 

 States to sell their feathers. 



The largest nesting-colony of Snowy Egrets in the United States 

 of which we have any knowledge is situated in a pond on the estate of 

 Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny at Avery Island, Louisiana. Prof. J. S. Huxley 

 went carefully through the rookery in the summer of 1916, and reported 

 between eight hundred and nine hundred nests. 



Classification and Distribution 



The Snowy Egret belongs to the Order Herodiones and to the Family 

 Ardeidce, Its scientific name is Egretta candidissima. It formerly ranged through- 

 out the southern half of the United States except the dry plains, and all over South 

 America ; but is now restricted in North America to the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States. It winters from Mexico and southward. 



This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at .5 cents encli. hy the National Associati 

 Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists jj.vi.-ii on request. 



