36 
ALTKICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 
ment. This, however, is not always the case. The eggs of the \yhite Pealei are 
much smaller than are those of the blue-and-russet form. 
Mr. Audubon states that the young when just hatched are nearly naked, and are of a 
dark color, there being only a few scanty tufts of long, soft down. When the feathers 
begin to appear, they are white. The young are fed by regurgitation, grow fast, and 
soon become noisy. When about a month old they sit upright on their nest, and 
soon crawl out into the branches. Becoming sensible of danger, they hide among 
the foliage whenever a boat approaches, or seek the interior of the Keys, where 
it is very difficult to follow them. They do not fly until they are at least seven 
weeks old ; and even then do not venture to leave the island on which they were 
reared. Mr. Audubon caught several young birds of this form and kept them alive. 
They fed freely, and became tolerably docile. They were supplied with pieces of 
green turtle, and some of them reached Charleston in good health. One was kept 
alive for nearly two years by Rev. Dr. Bachman. It was allowed to walk at large in 
the garden and poultry-yard, ate an enormous amount of fish and all kinds of garbage, 
contenting itself, when other food was scarce, with the entrails of fowls ; and it even 
fed freely on moistened corn-meal or mush. It caught insects with great dexterity, 
was gentle and familiar, and a favorite in the kitchen, living to be twenty-two 
months old, and retaining its white plumage to the last. This was a male bird. 
Two eggs of this Egret, collected in Cuba by Dr. Gundlach, are of a rounded oval 
shape, equal at either end, and in color are of a very pale wash of Prussian blue very 
slightly tinged with green. One measures 1.90 inches in length by 1.50 inches in 
breadth ; the other 2.00 inches by 1.50. 
The russet form, known as rufa, is also confined to the extreme southern border 
of the United States. It is abundant in Florida, occurs along the Gulf coast to 
Mexico, and is common in the southern part of Texas. It breeds in Cuba and in 
several others of the West Indian Islands. It has been met with on the Pacific coast 
of Guatemala, but has not, that I am aware, been traced farther north on the Pacific. 
Mr. Dresser states, on the authority of Dr. Heermann, that it occurs in the summer 
months near San Antonio, and also in the more eastern parts of Texas. Mr. March 
includes it in his list of the birds of Jamaica, where it is mentioned as rare. It is 
also included by Dr. Gundlach in his list of the birds of Cuba, and marked as having 
been found breeding there. Mr. Salvin found it in company with its kindred, the 
D. Pealei, on the mud-flats near Chiapam, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. It was 
the more abundant of the two forms. 
According to Audubon, this Egret is a constant resident on the Florida Keys, to 
which it is so partial at all seasons that it never leaves them. Some individuals 
were observed by him as far east as Cape Florida, and westward along the Gulf of 
Mexico. He never saw it in other than salt water, and was not aware that it ever 
feeds in fresh. It is more plump than most of the Herons, but possesses all the 
gracefulness of its tribe. In walking it lifts its feet high, and usually proceeds at 
a quiet pace. It alights with ease on trees, and can walk about on the larger 
branches. It is rarely seen to feed on the edges of the water, but resorts to the 
shallows of extensive mud or sand flats. There companies of twenty or thirty, or 
even more, may be seen wading up to the knee-joint in pursuit of prey, usually 
standing in silence, awaiting the approach of the object, and then striking at it. 
The prey is either swallowed immediately, or, if too large, taken to the shore 
and beaten, and then torn in pieces. It usually remains on the flats, thus feeding, 
iintil the advancing tide compels it to retire to the land. This account of its 
habits differs from the observations, referred to below, of Mr. Moore. 
