G Broken Feather 
of the bird for the mating season. Indeed, Nature 
goes so far, in some cases, as to cause a special 
moult to meet the exigencies of the wedding, —as if 
fine feathers do make a fine bird. All this to meet 
the fancy of the bride! so, at least, the scientists tell 
us. Whether or not her fancy is the cause, it is 
a fact that among the birds it is the bridegroom 
who is adorned for his wife, and sometimes the fine 
feathers come by a special moult. 
Not far from my house is a nest of black-crowned 
night herons, or “quawks.” Preparatory to the mating 
of the pair there started from the crown of the male 
(and female, also, in this case,) two or three white, 
rounded plumes, which now hang eight inches in 
length, waving gracefully to his shoulders. They are 
the special glory of the wedding time; but soon after 
the nesting season is over they will drop out, not to 
come again until he goes a-wooing Mrs. Quawk once 
more. In the white American egret, and in the snowy 
egret, the plumes number about fifty, and occur upon 
the back close to the tail. They are straight in 
the American, recurved in the snowy, and make the 
famous “aigrette” plumes of the milliner. The birds 
are shot in their nuptial dress, and so great has been 
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