310 SNOWY HERON. 



and found to be well tasted ; the white was of a bluish tint, and almost 

 transparent, though boiled for a considerable time ; the yolk very small 

 in quantity. The birds rose in vast numbers, but without clamor, 

 alighting on the tops of the trees around, and watching the result in 

 silent anxiety. Among them were numbers of the Night Heron, and 

 two or three Purple-headed Herons. Great quantities of egg shells lay 

 scattered under the trees, occasioned by the depredations of the Crows, 

 who were continually hovering about the place. On one of the nests 

 I found the dead body of the bird itself, half devoured by the Hawks, 

 Crows, or Gulls. She had probably perished in defence of her eggs. 



The Snowy Heron is seen at all times, during summer, among the 

 salt marshes, watching and searching for food ; or passing, sometimes 

 in flocks, from one part of the bay to the other. They often make 

 excursions up the rivers and inlets ; but return regularly, in the even- 

 ing, to the red cedars on the beach, to roost. I found these birds on 

 the Mississippi, early in June, as far up as Fort Adams, roaming about 

 among the creeks, and inundated woods. 



The length of this species is two feet one inch ; extent three feet two 

 inches ; the bill is four inches and a quarter long, and grooved ; the 

 space from the nostril to the eye orange yellow, the rest of the bill 

 black ; irides vivid orange ; the whole plumage is of a snowy whiteness ; 

 the head is largely crested with loose unwebbed feathers, nearly four 

 inches in length ; another tuft of the same covers the breast ; but the 

 most distinguished ornament of this bird is a bunch of long silky 

 plumes, proceeding from the shoulders, covering the whole back, and 

 extending beyond the tail : the shafts of these are six or seven inches 

 long, extremely elastic, tapering to the extremities, and thinly set with 

 long slender bending threads or fibres, easily agitated by the slightest 

 motion of the air — these shafts curl upwards at the ends. When the 

 bird is irritated, and erects those airy plumes, they have a very elegant 

 appearance ; the legs, and naked part of the thighs, are black ; the feet 

 bright yellow ; claws black, the middle one pectinated. 



The female can scarcely be distinguished by her plumage, having not 

 only the crest, but all the ornaments of the male, though not quite so 

 long and flowing. 



The young birds of the first season are entirely destitute of the long 

 plumes of the breast and back ; but, as all those that were examined in 

 spring were found crested and ornamented as above, they doubtless 

 receive their full dress on the first moulting. Those shot in October 

 measured twenty-two inches in length, by thirty-four in extent ; the 

 crest was beginning to form; the legs yellowish green, daubed with 

 black ; the feet greenish yellow ; the lower mandible white at the base ; 

 the wings, when shut, nearly of a length with the tail, which is even at 

 the end. 



