©fp» KarbUr 21 



each other from limb to limb, they finally settled down upon their nests as 

 though nothing had happened to disturb them. But no Snowys yet. 



Soon from one side I heard- a rush of wings and saw a Snowy Heron 

 settle on a bush. How out of place it seemed among those other birds, 

 which before I had seen Snowys, I thought could not be more beautiful. The 

 other five seemed more wary and circled longer overhead, but at last they, 

 too, alighted about one hundred feet from me, one on the edge of a nest. 

 After preening her Lathers and inspecting the surroundings, this one settled 

 down to brood her eggs, — so I had succeeded in locating one nest. 



While on the nest" the bird displayed a habit that both interested and sur- 

 prised me. At varying intervals she would raise her plumes and crest until 

 they appeared nearly triple their usual size, fluffing the back plumes until 

 they were almost level with those of her head. Had I seen a heron mounted 

 in that manner I fear I would have called it unnatural, but my ignorance is 

 not sufficiently great to criticise the living bird. She can do things with 

 impunity that a taxidermist would not dare atteanpt. 



It was myself this time, and not poor, forsaken Bingo, that cut our ob- 

 servation short. My position was cramped and I moved my feet, noiselessly 

 I thought. The herons heard me, though, and were in the air like a flash. 

 My only compensation for my carelessness was the resulting knowledge that 

 when disturbed, unlike other herons, the Snowy utters no cry until a safe 

 distance away from the disturber. 



As further concealment was needless, we now proceeded to the nest and 

 found four eggs in it. The nest was very similar to the hundreds of others 

 surrounding it, but there is enough difference in the eggs to enable an ex- 

 pert to distinguish them from those of the Louisiana and Little Blue. To 

 the amateur eye, though, they are so much alike that I consider myself for- 

 tunate in having seen one set exhibited in the native nest, with no chance 

 for the substitution of something "just as good." 



What a sight a colony of the Snowy Heron alone would be. Picture a 

 flock of hundreds where we found a bare half-dozen. I fear that is some- 

 thing my eyes will never behold, as these birds seem slowly but surely dis- 

 appearing. The ones we saw are the only ones that have been found breed- 

 ing near Seven Oaks for several seasons, but as they are in a place known 

 only to Mr. Hoyt and myself they may be able to help replenish the thin- 

 ning numbers of their kind. 



Let us hope that the plume hunter, in his search for finery for My 

 Lady's hat, may have his footsteps directed always away from this haunt of 

 the Snowy. And let me add a prayer that My Lady herself will pay less 

 heed to " Votes for women " and more attention to those who plead 

 with her to cease causing the slaughter of beautiful, innocent birds as sacri- 

 fices upon the altar of fashion. 



