94 WATER BIRDS 



hours. After having been fed, the young heron draws back 

 his head until it lies upon his shoulders, and sits there a 

 sleepy, solemn-looking hunchback until next feeding-time. 



196. AMERICAN F.GRET.—Ardeaegretta. 



Family : The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. 



Length: 39.00. 



Adults in Nuptial Plumage : Snowy white ; the interscapular plumes 

 straight, filamentous, very long, reaching below the end of the tail ; 

 head without crest ; bill yellow ; lores orange. 



Toung, and Adults after Breeding Season : Same, but lacking the inter- 

 scapular plumage. 



Geographicai DistribvMon : Temperate and tropical America, on the 

 Pacific coast from Oregon to Patagonia. 



Breeding Bange ; As far north as Oregon on the Pacific coast. 



Breeding Season : April, May, and June. 



Nest : A loose platform of coarse twigs ; in colonies in trees near water. 



£:ggs: 2 to 4 ; light bluish. Size 2.35 X 1.65. 



The story of the American Egret is one more tragedy 

 in the annals of ornithology, and is " a startling evidence 

 of man's power in the animal world. At his word a 

 species is almost immediately wiped out of existence." 

 These beautiful birds are exterminated in Florida, and 

 the devastation has begun on the Western coast ; already 

 they are listed as " rare " where they once bred in abun- 

 dance. The " nuptial plumage " only is salable, since 

 it alone contains the pretty " aigrette " plumes ; and so, 

 at a time when the true sportsman is bound by an 

 unwritten law to protect the nesting birds, the plume- 

 hunter shoots them mercilessly for commercial purposes. 



