GREAT WHITE HERON. 547 



plain light bluish-green colour. Mr Egan told me that incubation con- 

 tinues about thirty days, that both birds sit, (the female, however, being 

 most assiduous,) and' with their legs stretched out before them, in the 

 same manner as the young when two or tln-ee weeks old. The latter, of 

 which I saw several from ten days to a month old, were pure white, slightly 

 tinged with cream colour, and had no indications of a crest. Those which 

 I carried to Charleston, and which were kept for more than a year, ex- 

 hibited nothing of the kind. I am unable to say how long it is before 

 they attain their full plumage as represented in the plate, when, as you 

 see, the head is broadly but loosely and shortly tufted, the feathers of the 

 breast pendent, but not remarkably long, and there are none of the nar- 

 row feathers seen in other sjjecies over the rump or wings. 



These Herons are sedate, quiet, and perhaps even less animated than 

 the A. Herodias. They walk majestically, with firmness and great ele- 

 gance. Unlike the species just named, they^^ocA; at their feeding grounds, 

 sometimes a hundred or more being seen together ; and what is still more 

 remarkable is, that they betake themselves to the mud-flats or sand-bars 

 at a distance from the Keys on which they roost and breed. They seem, 

 in so far as I could judge, to be diurnal, an opinion corroborated by the 

 testimony of Mr Egan, a person of great judgment, sagacity and inte- 

 o-rity. While on these banks, they stand motionless, rarely moving to- 

 wards their prey, but waiting until it comes near, when they strike it and 

 swallow it alive, or when large beat it on the water, or shake it violently, 

 biting it severely all the while. They never leave their feeding grounds 

 until driven off bv the tide, remaining until the water reaches their body. 

 So wary are they, that although they may return to roost on the same 

 keys they rarely alight on trees to which they have resorted before, and 

 if repeatedly disturbed they do not return, for many weeks at least. 

 When roosting, they generally stand on one foot, the other being drawn 

 up and, unlike the Ibises, are never seen lying flat on trees, where, how- 

 ever they draw in their long neck, and place their head under their 



wing. 



I was often surprised to see that while a flock was resting by day in 

 the position just described, one or more stood with outstretched necks, 

 keenly eyeing all around, now and then suddenly starting at the sight of 

 a Porpoise or Shark in chase of some fish. The appearance of a man or 

 a boat seemed to distract them ; and yet I was told that nobody ever 



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