HERONS. 347 



watched both before break of day and after dusk, 

 but could never succeed in obtaining a shot at the 

 bird, so excessive was its vigilance. 



The second I once saw at a great distance while 

 on the Burnt Savanna River in November, its long 

 white neck towering above the thick reeds ; I judged 

 it to be between four and five feet high. At length 

 it flew to a distant tree ; the morass precluding the 

 possibility of my gratifying my desire to possess 

 it. 



This is, I presume, the species alluded to by 

 Mr. Hill in the former part of the following note. 

 " I must not omit to mention that in Cuba I saw 

 very usually, in the small farms by the sea-side, 

 the large White Egret or Garzota in a state of 

 mansuetude. The Flamingo was not unfrequently 

 its companion in this unrestrained captivity, if we 

 may use this contradictory expression to represent a 

 state where reconcilement to servitude included a 

 full permission to the birds to use their wings in 

 flight. The abundant food obtained from the re- 

 fuse of the fishermen's nets on the beach at day- 

 break, supplied them with an early and full meal 

 for the day, and explained the mystery of this 

 willing captivity. In St. Domingo I visited a wood- 

 land farm, situated by the side of some fine fresh- 

 water ponds, the resort of numerous wild ducks in 

 the season, where the submission to life among 

 the poultry, on the part of one of the small Egrets, 

 was the result of association only. What was most 

 remarkable was the determination of this bird always 

 to occupy the centre of the roost, by the side of 



