THE BIRDS OP NEW JERSEY. 103 



196 Herodias egretta (Gmelin). 

 Egret, White Heron. 



PLATE 13. 



Adults. Length, 37-41. Wing, 14.25-16.50. Pure white throughout with 

 a bunch of long, straight "aigrette" plumes on the back ; bill, yellow ; legs and 

 feet, black. 



Young and adults after the nesting season lack the plumes. 



Nest. A platform of sticks in a tree ; eggs, four, bluish-green, 2.25 x 1.45. 



A not uncommon but irregular migrant from the south along the sea- 

 coast,, and less frequently up the Delaware River, usually occurring 

 from August 1st to the end of September. 



Formerly this species bred in the southern part of the State. Wil- 

 son says: "Breeds in several of the extensive cedar swamps in the 

 lower parts of New Jersey. * * * In the months of July and 

 August the young make their first appearance in the meadows and 

 marshes in parties of twenty or thirty together." He also adds that 

 they come up the Delaware regularly to the meadows below Phila- 

 delphia. 



Turnbull (1869) still includes it as a summer resident, but states 

 that it is rather rare. 



Scott 1 says it was common during the summer of 1879 at Beach 

 Haven, and adds: "They breed in large numbers about forty miles 

 south, near Townsend's Inlet." This remark, however, almost cer- 

 tainly refers to the Snowy Egret, as Mr. Scott was obviously not 

 speaking from personal experience. 



Dr. C. C. Abbott 2 describes a flock of these birds which visited the 

 meadows near Trenton August 17th, 1876, in company with the Little 

 Blue Herons, and similar occurrences, both here and on the coast, 

 have occurred every few years. 



Farther north Mr. Henry Hales writes me of two that visited Saddle 

 River Pond five miles north of Ridgewood in July, 1902, remaining 

 several weeks, and one was shot on Wading River August, 1905. 



1 Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1879. 



2 Amer. Nat., 1876, p. 473. 



