256 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



bv the heron's daggerlike beak and drawn ashore only to be discarded 

 because they were too large even for his capacious gullet. 



The tallest trees in the swamp are usually selected for their nesting 

 sites. The nest is a bulky affair made of large sticks and rather fiat on top. 

 The eggs are from three to six in number of a- pale greenish blue, ellipsoidal 

 in shape and about 2.55 by 1.52 inches in size. The young remain in the 

 nest about four weeks and often set up a rattling clamor for food, resembling 

 somewhat the barking of a litter of young dogs. 



Herodias egretta (Gmelin) 

 American Egret 



Plate 24 



Ardea egretta Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1788. 2:629 



Ardea leuce DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 220, fig. 186 



Ardea egretta A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 194 



egret'ta, from French aigrette, a kind of heron, also a plume 



Description. Adult in breeding plumage: Entirely white; about 50 

 straight plumes, or "aigrettes," spring from the back and extend con- 

 siderably beyond the tail; bill, lores and eyes yellow; legs and feet black. 

 Immature and adults after breeding season: Without the dorsal plumes. 



Length 36-42 inches; the train of plumes extending 10 or 12 inches 

 farther; extent 53-56; wing 14. 3-1 7; tail 5.6-6.5; bill 4.3-5; tarsus 5.5- 

 6.75; tibia bare 3.5. The females have the smaller dimensions; 



Distribution. This species inhabits tropical and temperate America 

 as far north as Virginia and Missouri. After the breeding season it straggles 

 northward as far as Oregon, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. In our State 

 it is an occasional summer visitant. Giraud speaks of its occurrence on 

 Long Island as "not frequent" and mentions a flock of five which remained 

 on Coney island beach for several days. Numerous accounts of "White 

 cranes" or White herons which have been seen in different parts of the 

 State have come to my notice, and undoubtedly refer to this species. Besides 

 these we have the following records of specimens taken or seen by reliable 

 observers : 



Auburn, N. Y. . (William Hopkins). Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. Proc. 1856. 5:13 

 Ossining, N. Y. Early Sept. 1870. Fisher, N. O. C. Bui. 4:62; Forest and Stream, 

 1 1 : 482 



