30 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



iently follow them on account of the heavy wading through the place. We 

 brought home with us forty-six of the large White Herons, and three of the Great 

 Blue. Many more might have been killed, but we became tired of shootingthem. 



As far as I have observed, these birds breed only in freshwater 

 reservoirs or in river swamps, placing their nests, which are com- 

 posed of sticks arranged in a circular manner, in the tops of 

 cypress trees, or in willows which are growing in the water. 

 About the first week in May full complements of three or four 

 eggs are laid. These are bluish green, and measure 2.25X1-50. 

 Only one brood is raised. 



69. Egretta candidissima (Gmel.). Snowy Egret. , 



The Snowy Egret is now almost extinct on this coast 1 where it 

 was formerly to be seen in enormous numbers during the spring, 

 summer, and autumn. I well remember the time when thou- 

 sands bred on a small island out in the marsh near Secessionville, 

 James Island, but it is so rare a bird at the present day that I 

 have not seen an example for more than ten years, although Dr. 

 Eugene Edmund Murphey saw three in May, 1904, near St. 

 Helena Sound. These lovely birds have been annihilated by 

 plume hunters who pursue them unrelentingly from the time of 

 their arrival until their plumes are cast, and consequently few, 

 if any, are now to be found on this coast. The birds used to ar- 

 rive by the middle or third week in March, and remained until 

 late in October. 



They always bred in large colonies, placing their nests in low 

 trees or bushes, and the eggs, which were generally three in num- 

 ber, were laid during the first week in May. Bushels of eggs 

 could have been obtained from 1879 to 1887. As in all the spe- 

 cies of this family, the eggs are bluish green and measure 

 1.80X1.25. 



70. Hydranassa tricolor ruficollis (Gosse). Louisiana Heron. 

 Since this graceful heron winters in sheltered ponds on the 



coast islands 2 it is a permanent resident — a fact which I have dis- 

 covered only in recent years. It breeds in company with the 



1 Two strong breeding colonies of Snowy Egrets (one on the island opposite Secession- 

 ville referred to in the text) were discovered by Mr. Herbert R. Sass, May 15, 1908, and 

 recorded by him in the following journals: Bull. Chaa.Mus. IV, 1908, 47-48; Auk, XXV, 

 1908, 313-314; Bird Lore, X, 160-162. One of these breeding grounds has been leased 

 by the Charleston Museum, the National Association of Audubon Societies having off- 

 ered to assist in its protection. — Ed. 



2 The Charleston Museum has records of the Louisiana Heron on the Drum Island 

 marshes in Charleston Harbor, February 22, 1909. This indicates that this species, as 

 well as the Little Blue Heron, may winter more generally than<,stated in the text. — Ed. 



