BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 95 



197. SNOWY HERON. —Egretla can didissima. 

 Family : The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. 



Length: 23.50. 



Adults : Plumage always pure white. 



Nuptial Plumage: Pure white; "aigrette" plumes hang like a wh'.ce 

 fringe from interscapular region to heyoud the end of the tail ; simi- 

 lar plumes on lower neck and forming an occipital crest ; bill black, 

 yellow at base ; legs black ; feet yellow. 



Young : Like adults after breeding season ; that is, white, with no inter- 

 scapular plumes. 



Geographical Distribution . Temperate and tropical America ; on the 

 Pacific coast from Oregon to Buenos Ayres. 



Breeding Range : As far north as Oregon. 



Breeding Season : April 15 to June 15. 



Nest : A loosely built platform of sticks ; placed in trees or bushes near 

 swamps. 



Eggs: 2 to 5 ; light bluish. Size 1.80 X 1.20. 



Beauty has proved a fatal dower to this exquisite 

 bird, which has become nearly extinct through the ravages 

 of the plume-hunters. " The delicate aigrettes which it 

 donned as a nuptial dress were its death warrant. 

 Woman demanded from the bird its wedding plumes, 

 and man has supplied the demand." The saddest part 

 of the whole sad story is the fact, not sentiment, that 

 the killing must be done during the nesting season ; 

 consequently the young, bereft of both parents, starve in 

 the nest. For every dainty aigrette in hair or bonnet, 

 a brood of baby herons has suffered excruciating, long- 

 continued torture, and death. In California this heron 

 is a summer visitant to the interior valleys, but is by no 

 means common at any season of the year. 



