8 NORTH AMERICAN HERONS AND THEIR ALLIES. 



time by decreasing the market. Already in several of the States it 

 has been made unlawful to sell the aigrettes or even to have them in 

 possession with intent to sell. Could such a law be made general 

 throughout the United States, the killing of aigrette-bearing birds 

 would cease, because the slaughterer would have no market for his 

 plumes. The birds will never be safe until this condition exists. 



The larger egret and the snowy egret are the two species that have 

 suffered most severely from the persecutions of the plume hunters, 

 but the millinery trade has also levied a heavy toll on many other 

 members of the group. The flamingo has ceased to breed anywhere 

 in the United States. The roseate spoonbill has become extinct over 

 more than half of its former range in the United States, and its total 

 numbers are probably less than 5 per cent of what they were 50 

 years ago. 



The reduction of numbers in the other herons and in the ibises 

 has not been so pronounced, but several of the species have been 

 driven from the northern two-thirds of their former breeding range 

 and are now restricted to the wildest and most inaccessible parts of 

 the Gulf States. 



The food habits of herons and heronlike birds have not been thor- 

 oughly investigated. The flamingo is believed to subsist largely on 

 shellfish and Crustacea. The spoonbill and the ibises partake of the 

 same fare, but add insects to the bill. The larger wood ibis feeds 

 also on frogs and fishes. 



All of the true herons are fond of fish, but in addition they con- 

 sume many injurious creatures, such as crawfish, water snakes, 

 meadow mice, and other rodents. In the West the great blue heron 

 spends much of its time hunting for pocket gophers. There is no 

 doubt that the herons — especially the black-crowned night heron and 

 the great blue heron — do much damage about fish hatcheries and 

 ponds used as fish preserves, and in such places they should be held 

 in check. But their food habits have redeeming features, and pend- 

 ing conclusions based on careful study of the whole subject, no 

 general aggressive measures against the birds should be permitted. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The herons and their allies as a whole are tropical birds, barely 

 extending to the warmer parts of the southern United States. This 

 bulletin treats of 32 species, all that are known to occur in North 

 America south to and including the West Indies and Panama. 



One of these, the European heron, is accidental in Greenland ; two 

 are stragglers to the southern United States; and several have never 

 been taken within the limits of the United States. 



