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AMERICAN EGRETS AS VICTIMS TO FASHION. 



By Dr. A. Menegaux, Assistant, Museum d'Histoire 



Naturelle, Paris. 



[Translated by the Author from a communication to 'La Nature,' 



March, 1909.] 



It is known that in Europe there are two species of a genus 

 of Wading Birds belonging to the Heron group to which the 

 name of Egrets is applied on account of the ornamental plumes 

 arranged in a bunch on their back, namely, the Great White 

 Heron or Large Egret (Ardea alba, L.) and the Little Egret 

 {Garzetta garzetta [L.]). Their distribution embraces nearly all 

 the Old World, and they are a little larger in size than similar 

 species of America. 



The Large American Egret or Garza blanca of South America 

 {Herodias egretta (Wilson) or Ardea leuce, Licht.) greatly resem- 

 bles her sister of the Old World. Like her, she is of a beautiful 

 white colour, but the ornamental plumes which both sexes 

 possess are longer and have a thicker stem. The bare parts of 

 the tibiae are always black, like the tarsi and claws. The lores are 

 chrome-yellow, as is the bill, which often in the case of the sitting 

 bird is marked by a continuous black line along the culmen. The 

 "aigrettes," which go beyond the tail, appear in July to mark 

 the breeding plumage, and they fall in October when the young 

 leave their parents. It follows that the winter plumage is the 

 same as that of summer, with the exception that the ornamental 

 plumes are wanting. The young have a white downy plumage, 

 without aigrettes. The male attains to a total length of thirty- 

 eight inches. 



The Snowy Heron, Little American Egret or Chumita of the 

 indigenous breeds {Leucophoyx or Ardea candidissima, Gin.), is 

 much smaller in size than the one above referred to, viz, 

 twenty inches. The body is entirely white, but the bill is 

 black, except at the base of the lower mandible. The lores are 



