The Home-Life of the American Egret 



67 



like kek-kek-kek, and stretched their necks hopefully. The old birds were not 

 assured. So the young resorted to their customary occupations of leg- or wing- 

 stretching, or yawning, or preening a brother's or sister's feathers, picking at 

 imaginary objects here and there, all good exercises for growing birds. The 

 larger ones made little journeys to the limbs near the nests, the neck taking a 

 different curve with every movement, and expressing every emotion from extreme 

 dejection to alert and eager expectancy. Finally, as the old birds were convinced 

 that the blind was harmless, their reward came. With harsh, rattling notes 

 and raised crest one of the parents alit near the nest. Its superbly threatening 



EGRETS DISPLAYING THEIR PLUMES 

 From the Habitat group in the American Museum of Natural History 



attitude was clearly not alarming to the young birds, who welcomed it by voice 

 and upstretched, extended neck. Gravely the parent stood regarding its young, 

 while its crest dropped and its pose relaxed. Then, as it stepped to the edge of 

 the nest, it lowered its head, when its bill was immediately seized by one of the 

 youngsters. The young bird did not thrust its bill down the parental throat, 

 nor was the parent's bill introduced into that of its offspring. The hold of the 

 young bird was such as one would take with a pair of shears, if one were to attempt 

 to cut off the adult's bill at the base. In this manner the old bird's head was 

 drawn down into the nest, where the more or less digested fish was disgorged, 

 and at once devoured by the young. 



Three days passed before pictures were secured of this singular operation, 



