HERONS OF THE UNITED STATES 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



^f)t /Rational S^&iotmtion of Hlububon ^ocietita 



BULLETIN NO. 5 



REDDISH EGRET {Dichromanassa rufescens) 



Description. — There are two very distinct phases of plumage found in 

 Reddish Egrets. One that we may call the 'dark phase' is by far the more 

 common in this country (see Plate I, No. i). In this plumage the feathers of 

 the head and neck are rufous chestnut, while the back, wings, and underparts 

 are of a bluish slate-color. From bill-tip to tail-tip it measures pretty close 

 to 30 inches, or about 7 or 8 inches more than the Little Blue Heron, which 

 at a little distance it strikingly resembles. 



The other plumage may be described as the 'white phase' (see Plate I, 

 No. 2). Every feather on the bird is pure white. This astonishing difference 

 in plumage between individuals of the same species has never been satisfac- 

 torily explained. Neither age, sex, season, nor environment appears to have 

 anything to do with determining which plumage an individual bird shall wear. 

 Out in the village of rude stick nests, of the many eggs that hatch, here and 

 there are those that will produce baby birds destined to wear white plumage 

 all of their days. In both phases the birds in the breeding season are adorned 

 with long white aigrette plumes growing from the back. 



At one time the white bird was supposed to be a distinct species and 

 was called Peale's Egret. 



Range. — Reddish Egrets are found in the Bahama Islands and the West 

 Indies, as well as on the Pacific Coast of northern Mexico and along the Gulf 

 Coast to Guatemala. No other Heron has so restricted a breeding range in 

 the United States. So far as we are aware it is now known to rear its young in 

 this country only on islands in the bays and lagoons along the Gulf Coast of 

 southern Texas, from near the center of Cameron County to Mesquite Bay 

 in Aransas County, a distance of only 125 miles. Unmated birds wander north- 

 ward as far as Louisiana, but it is doubtful if they breed in that State. Many 

 years ago the species was not uncommon in southern Florida, but apparently 

 no occurrence of its breeding in this State has been recorded for a long 

 time. So far as known, it is found in Texas only about salt waters or 

 those that are brackish. Apparently it always remains in the immediate 

 coast country. 



General Notes. — In the office of the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies it had long been feared that the Reddish Egret had become extinct 

 as a breeding bird within the borders of the United States. It was, therefore, 

 a delightful surprise to the writer to discover on June 20, 191S, a colony of 



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