SNOWY HERON. 35 



204. ARDEA CANDIDISSI3IA, GMELIN AND WILSON. 



SNOWY HERON. 

 WILSON, PLATE LXII. FIG. IV. 



THIS elegant species inhabits the sea coast of North 

 America, from the Isthmus of Darien to the Gulf of St 

 Lawrence, and is, in the United States, a bird of passage; 

 arriving from the south early in April, and leaving the 

 middle States again in October. Its general appearance, 

 resembling so much that of the little egret of Europe, 

 has, I doubt not, imposed on some of the naturalists of 

 that country, as I confess it did on me.* From a more 

 careful comparison, however, of both birds, I am satisfied 

 that they are two entirely different and distinct species. 

 These differences consist in the large flowing crest, 

 yellow feet, and singularly curled plumes of the back 

 of the present ; it is also nearly double the size of the 

 European species. 



The snowy heron seems particularly fond of the salt 

 marshes during summer, seldom penetrating far inland. 

 Its white plumage renders it a very conspicuous object, 

 either while on wing, or M'hile Amding the meadows or 

 marshes. Its food consists of those small crabs usually 

 called fiddlers, mud worms, snails, frogs, and lizards. 

 It also feeds on the seeds of some species of nymphae, 

 and of several other aquatic plants. 



On the 19th of May I visited an extensive breeding 

 place of the snowy heron, among the red cedars of 

 Summers's Beach, on the coast of Cape May. The 

 situation was very sequestered, bounded on the land 

 side by a fresh water marsh or pond, and sheltered 

 from the Atlantic by ranges of sand hills. The cedars, 

 though not high, were so closely crowded together as 

 to render it difficult to penetrate through among them. 

 Some trees contained three, others four nests, built 



* " On the American continent the little egret is met with at 

 New York and Long Island." LATHAM, vol. iii, p. 90. 



