Egrets 



habits are similar to those of the Great Blue Heron except that it is perhaps more 

 sedate and less animated. It collects in flocks often of a hundred or more on 

 the flats and sand-bars where it feeds. 



The Goliath Heron (A. goliatk) of tropical Africa and occasional in India is 

 another elegant species, being about fifty-four inches in length and having the 

 head and crest-feathers chestnut. South America is also the home of a species 

 allied to the European Heron, namely, the Cocoi Heron (A. cocoi}. This species, 

 however, does not nest in communities, at least in Argentina, and is usually seen 

 singly or in pairs, fishing along streams and marshes. 



Egrets. The large Egrets form a very interesting and showy group, by some 

 referred to the genus Herodias, but by others placed in the same genus as those 

 we have been considering. They are pure, often glistening white in color through- 

 out, with beautiful elongated plumes on the back, these constituting the aigrettes 

 so highly prized (unfortunately) for millinery decoration. The European species 



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FIG. 45. American Egret, Herodias egretta. 



(H. alba), found from southern Europe through central Asia to the Indian penin- 

 sula and in Africa, has the bill black in summer and yellow in winter, while the 

 American Egret (H. egretta) of temperate and tropical America, and the Timor 

 species (H . timoriensis] of Japan, China, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia, 

 have the bill yellow throughout the entire year. The American Egret is a shy 

 bird at all times and a great wanderer. Usually but few are seen together, 

 although in suitable localities, as in Florida and certain places in the Western 

 States, it nests in communities, the nests being placed in bushes or trees, all the 

 way from six to one hundred and fifty feet from the ground. In the South the 

 numbers of this species have been sadly depleted by plume hunters. The Snowy 



