412 REDDISH EGRET. 



" If possible ! nothing in the world can be more easy, for if they have no 

 eggs left, they have young ones enough to load your schooner. I can 

 take you straight to their breeding place.'" 



You may suppose, Reader, how my spirits were raised by this intelli- 

 gence, and how surprised I was that Peale's Egret was not in the number 

 of the Florida Herons. We speedily embarked in Mr Thruston's boat, 

 spread our sails to the breeze, and passed several keys, on which we pro- 

 cured two young birds of the large white species, which I saw at once 

 was unknown to me, but of Avhich you will find an account in this volume. 

 As we approached the next island, I saw twenty or thirty pairs of Herons, 

 some of which were pure white, others of a light blue colour, but so much 

 larger than the Blue Heron, A?-dea coerulea, that I asked the pilot what 

 they were, when he answered, " the very fellows I want to shew you, and 

 you may soon see them close enough, as you and I will shoot a few by 

 way of amusement." Before half an hour had elapsed, more than a dozen 

 were lying at my feet. Some of them were as white as driven snow, the 

 rest of a delicate purplish tint, inclining to grey on the back and wings, 

 with heads and necks of a curious reddish colour. Males and females 

 there were, but they were all of one species, for my companion assured 

 me that " this sort bred before they turned to their natural colours," by 

 which he meant before attaining their full plumage at the age of three 

 years. Well, the immature birds were the very same as the individual to 

 which, as the representative of a new species, the name of Peale's Egret 

 had been given. This I saw at once, for so good is the representation of 

 it in the fourth volume of Bonapakte''s American Ornithology, that from 

 the mere recollection of it I was enabled to recognise the bird at once. 

 You may imagine the pleasure I felt, as well as that which I experienced 

 on becoming better acquainted with this species, which I found in many 

 places both with eggs and with young. 



The Reddish Egret is a constant resident on the Florida Kevs, to which 

 it is so partial at all seasons that it never leaves them. Some individuals are 

 seen as far east as Cape Florida, and westward along the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Whether it may ever betake itself to fresh water I cannot say, but I never 

 found one in such a situation. It is a more plump bird for its size than 

 most other Herons, and in this respect resembles the Night Heron and the 

 Yellow-crowned species, but possesses all the gracefulness of the tribe to 

 which it belongs. In walking it lifts its feet high, and proceeds at a 

 quiet pace, but sometimes briskly ; it alights with ease on trees, and walks 



