170 



EGRET. 



" Rooks," says Professor Brande, " build a nest particularly ex- 

 posed on the highest trees ; the jackdaws conceal theirs in holes ; while 

 the lapwing, woodcock, and snipe, lay on the bare ground ; and yet 

 the colour of the eggs of all these birds is nearly identical. Again, the 

 blackbird and song thrush are birds of very similar habits ; they build 

 in the same places, but the blackbird lays a dull rusty-coloured egg, 

 and the thrush a clear blue one, with a few dark, well-defined spots. 

 The woodpeckers, it is asserted, lay white eggs ; they ought, accord- 

 ing to the theory, but their practices seem very different. The 

 hawks, which are so able and accustomed to defend their nests, we 

 should expect to find with pure white eggs, but they are dull-coloured 

 and inconspicuous. The buzzards, the most cowardly among the tribe, 

 have perhaps the most conspicuous eggs of that tribe. The magpie is 

 a strong bird, its eggs well concealed, and the nest fortified ; but the 

 colour of this egg is dull, like the rook's, woodcock's, &c. Two very 

 similar eggs are those of the redstart and hedge-sparrow : the former 

 builds in holes, the latter does not. The cuckoo very commonly selects 

 the nest of the hedge-sparrow, a spotted brown egg among bright blue. 

 Now, if we admit that the brightest white eggs are to be found in birds 

 whose nest are the most concealed, as the kingfisher, wryneck, wrens, 

 tits, sparrows, and especially the sand-martin, may we not rather infer 

 that, because the interior of these nests is peculiarly dark, the bright 

 white colour is convenient to the bird, to enable her to distinguish them ? 

 At all events we must regard M. Gloger's hypothesis as ingenious, rather 

 than supported by facts."* 1 



EGRET (Ardea Garzetta, Linnaeus.) 



Ardea Garzetta, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 237. 13 Gmel. Syst. 2. p. 628 Rati, Syn. 



p. 99. 5 Will. p. 206 — lb. (Angl.) p. 280.— Ind. Orn. 2. p. 694. 64 



Temm. Man. d'Orn. 2. p. 572 Egretta, Bryss. 5. p. 431„ 16 lb. 8vo. 2. p. 



322 L'Aigrette, Buff. Ois. 7. p. 372. t. 20 Little Egret, Br. Zool. App. t. 



7 Arct. Zool. 2. No. 347 Lath. Syn. 5. p. 90. 59 Wale. Syn. 2. t. 30 



Lewin's Br. Birds, 4. t. 149 Don. Br. Birds, 4. t. 98 Flem. Br. Anim. p. 95. 



This species of heron weighs about one pound ; length near a foot. 

 The bill is black ; irides yellow ; the bare space about the eyes green. 

 The feathers on the back of the head are long, forming a pendant 

 crest ; two of the feathers are nearly five inches long, and narrow ; the 

 whole plumage is of a pure white ; the feathers on the breast and sca- 

 pulars are of a soft and loose texture ; legs greenish black ; claws black. 



If we may judge from the bill of fare of the famous feast given 

 by the Archbishop Nevil, these birds were plentiful in this country 

 formerly, for no less than one thousand were in that list. It is, how- 



1 Brande's Journal for December, 1829, p. 441, Note. 



