HERONS AND BITTERNS 225 



Eggs, 3-5, dull blue, of a rather deeper shade than those of the preceding, 

 2'25 x 1'60. Date, s. Fla., Feb.; Santee, S. C., Apl. 5. 



Tourists who went to Florida prior to 1880 have told me of prairies 

 white with Egrets, of bushy islands glistening in the sun like snow 

 banks. Now you may look foi miles along a lake shore and perhaps 

 in the distance see a solitary Egret, which, as you approach, with a 

 frightened squawk takes wing a rifle-shot away. The rapid exter- 

 mination of these plume-bearing birds is startling evidence of man's 

 power in the animal world. At his word a species is almost immediately 

 wiped out of existence. I have heard a "plume-hunter" boast of killing 

 three hundred Herons in a "rookery" in one afternoon. Another proudly 

 stated that he and his companions had killed one hundred and thirty 

 thousand birds Herons, Egrets, and Terns during one winter. The 

 destruction of these birds is a blot on Florida's history. 



1887. SCOTT, W. E. D., Auk, IV, 135 (destruction in Fla.). 1905. JOB, 

 H. K., Wild Wings, 134-149 (habits, destruction). 1908. CHAPMAN, F. 

 M., Camps and Cruises, 122-134 (nesting). 



197. Egretta candidissima candidissima (Gmel.). SNOWY EGRET. 

 Ads. in breeding plumage. Entire plumage pure white; about fifty recurved 

 'aigrette' plumes grow from the interscapular region and reach to or just 

 beyond the end of the tail; legs black, feet yellow, bill black, yellow at the 

 base; lores orange-yellow. Ads. after the breeding season and Im. Without 

 the interscapular plumes. L., 24'00; W., 9'75; Tar., 3'80; B., 3'20. 



Range. Temperate and tropical Am. Formerly bred from Ore., Nebr., 

 Ind., Ills., and N. J. s. to Chile and Argentina; now breeds locally in the U. 

 S. from N. C., to La.; winters from Fla., southward; casual in B. C., Ont., 

 Mass., and N. S. 



Washington, casual; irregular in fall. Long Island, rare S. R. May- 

 Sept. Ossining, A. V. 



Nest, a platfom of sticks, in colonies, in bushes over water. Eggs, 3-5, 

 pale, dull blue, T80 x 1*20. Date, s. Fla., March; Coast S. C., May 5. 



The "curse of beauty" has numbered the days of this the most 

 dainty and graceful of Herons. Formerly it was abundant in the South, 

 now it is the rarest of its family. The delicate 'aigrettes' which it 

 donned as a nuptial dress were its death warrant. Woman demanded 

 from the bird its wedding plumes, and man has supplied the demand. 

 The Florida Egrets are near the verge of extermination and now he 

 is pursuing the helpless birds to the uttermost parts of the earth. 

 Mercilessly they are shot down at their roosts or nesting-grounds, the 

 coveted feathers are stripped from their backs, the carcasses are left 

 to rot, while the young in the nest above are starving. Consular reports 

 show that in 1898 the plumes of about 1,538,000 White Herons were 

 shipped from Venezuela alone. 



198. Dichromanassa rufescens (GmeL). REDDISH EGRET. Ads. dark 

 phase. Head and neck rufous-chestnut, glossed with vinaceous; rest of 

 plumage dark bluish slate-color; about thirty 'aigrette' plumes grow from 

 interscapular region and reach beyond tail ; legs and feet black. Im. Simi- 

 lar, but without 'aigrette' plumes. White phase. Similar in size and form, 

 but entire plumage white, except tips of primaries, which are sometimes very 



