246 



THE ZOOLOGIST 



yellow and the tibiae and tarsi black. The ornamental plumes, 

 produced by both sexes, thus form a train on the back, and are 

 of great delicacy. They are arched at the point towards the tip 

 and in front, owing to which they have been termed " crosses" 

 by the trade. On the nape is a crest, a tuft of fine elongated 

 plumes, " non-recurved-like," on the fore neck. These are more 

 developed in the male than in the female. In winter both sexes 

 lose these beautiful feathers. The young bird has an occipital 

 crest before it produces the dorsal feathers of the adult. 



These two species of Egrets are found throughout the whole 

 of the temperate and tropical zones of America, from the United 

 States to Chili and Patagonia. They live in colonies consisting 

 of thousands upon thousands of birds, in heronries established 

 in the lagoons which form rivers at the time of periodic rise. 

 These families are particularly numerous in the immense lagoons 

 and marshes formed by the Orinoco and its affluents, which can 

 ouly be reached by the boats called "pirogues" in the midst of 

 hordes of Caimans, whose length varies from sixteen to twenty- 

 three feet. These waters are also inhabited by numerous 

 ferocious and voracious fishes, the Pirayes and the Caribes, 

 always on the alert to seize and devour anything that comes in 

 their way. The slightest movement of the water attracts them 

 by the thousand. Woe to the young Egrets and even to the im- 

 prudent hunter who comes within the reach of the Caimans. 



It is the large Egret which is the first to nest about the 

 beginning of July. The small species does not arrive until the 

 young of the large species have left the nest in October. The 

 nests of both species are made of dry twigs ; they are flat, placed 

 three or six feet above the water-level on the mangroves, guava, 

 and other marsh-trees, where the vegetation is very dense. The 

 nest of the large Egret is from eight to ten inches in diameter, 

 and contains two or three blue eggs. The nest of the smaller 

 species is built nearer the water, but it is of the same con- 

 struction, and has either two or three bluish eggs. These are 

 not hatched until the end of November. 



Among these colonies various nests are found belonging to 

 the Eoseate Spoonbill (Ajaja ajaja, L.), to the Crested Boat-bill 

 (Cancroma cochlearia, L.), to the Anhingas (Plotus anhinga, L.), 

 to the Red Ibis, and, lastly, to the American Wood Ibis (Tantalus 



