THE AMERICAN EGRET IN FLIGHT 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE EGRET, IN NATURE AND IN FASHION 



Vainly the fowler's eye 



Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong. 



BRYANT. 



THE splendid snow-white heron known as the Amer- 

 ican Egret, one of the few kinds which bear the 

 aigrette plumes of millinery and commerce, is among 

 the waning species of America. In Audubon's time it was 

 common all over the southeastern quarter of the country. 

 Now there is but a pitiful remnant in the southern part of 

 Florida, and a few other spots. Indeed it is generally sup- 

 posed that there are practically none outside of Florida. So 

 when I made a trip to another part of the South, to study and 

 photograph birds, the Egret was not reckoned in as a likeli- 

 hood, and but barely a possibility. 



