GREAT AMERICAN WHITE EGRET. 135 



you wonder how it can hold, besides itself, the three young ones which this 

 species and all the larger Herons have at a brood. In a few instances only 

 have I found it compactly built, it being the first nest formed by its owners. 

 It almost always overhangs the water, and is resorted to and repaired year 

 after year by the same pair. The eggs, which are never more than three, 

 measure two inches and a quarter in length, an inch and five-eighths in 

 breadth, and when newly laid are smooth, and of a pale blue colour, but af- 

 terwards become roughish and faded. When the nest is placed on a tall 

 tree, the young remain in it, or on its borders, until they are able to fly; but 

 when on a low tree or bush, they leave it much sooner, being capable of 

 moving along the branches without fear of being injured by falling, and 

 knowing that should they slip into the water they can easily extricate them- 

 selves by striking with their legs until they reach either the shore or the 

 nearest bush, by clinging to the stem of which they soon ascend to the top. 



This Egret is shy and vigilant at all times, seldom allowing a person to 

 come near unless during the breeding season. If in a rice-field of some ex- 

 tent, and at some distance from its margins, where cover can be obtained, 

 you need not attempt to approach it; but if you are intent on procuring it, 

 make for some tree, and desire your friend to start the bird. If you are well 

 concealed, you may almost depend on obtaining one in a few minutes, for the 

 Egrets will perhaps alight within twenty yards or less of you. Once, when 

 I was very desirous of making a new drawing of this bird, my friend John 

 Bachman followed this method, and between us we carried home several 

 superb specimens. 



The long plumes of this bird being in request for ornamental purposes, 

 they are shot in great numbers while sitting on their eggs, or soon after the 

 appearance of the young. I know a person who, on offering a double- 

 barrelled gun to a gentleman near Charleston, for one hundred White 

 Herons fresh killed, received that number and more the next day. 



The Great Egret breeds in company with the Anhinga, the Great Blue 

 Heron, and other birds of this family. The Turkey Buzzards and the 

 Crows commit dreadful havoc among its young, as well as those of the other 

 species. My friend John Bachman gives me the following account of his 

 visit to one of its breeding places, at the "Round 0," a plantation about 

 forty miles from Charleston: "Our company was composed of Benjamin 

 Logan, S. Lee, and Dr. Martin. We were desirous of obtaining some of 

 the Herons as specimens for stuffing, and the ladies were anxious to procure 

 many of their primary feathers for the purpose of making fans. The trees 

 were high, from a hundred to a hundred and thirty feet, and our shot was 

 not of the right size; but we commenced firing at the birds, and soon dis- 

 covered that we had a prospect of success. Each man took his tree, and 



