216 
The Snowy Egret 
Former 
Range 
stantly it showed resentment; the long feathers on its head were raised 
and the great mass of recurved plumes was elevated and spread out, 
forming an elegant fan-like ruff across the back and sides. Also, it 
promptly charged the Louisiana Heron in so fierce a manner that that 
disconcerted individual hurriedly fled to a safe distance. 
The Snowy Egret is no small bully in the rookery, as many a venture- 
some Heron knows to its sorrow. Let a Little Blue or Louisiana Heron 
get too near a Snowy’s nest, and it quickly finds itself in trouble. These 
birds also spar much with each other, and a group of them about their 
nests presents an animated scene. 
The Snowy Egret formerly bred as far north as New Jersey and 
possibly Eong Island, but this was many years 
ago. At the present time we know of no colony of 
this species north of Core Sound, North Carolina. 
There are several rookeries in South Carolina, one of which, that 
in the summer of 1917 contained about four hundred inhabitants, is 
on a small island in the Stono River, near Charleston. The island 
is owned by the National Association of Audubon Societies, which keeps 
a guard there during all the period of nesting. If this was not done 
the colony would be destroyed by gunners, just as the birds in hundreds 
of other rookeries have been exterminated. The ‘‘aigrettes” that come 
from the back of one Snowy Egret, and which are most perfect in the 
nesting season, can now be sold for ten dollars. It is easy to see, there- 
fore, that the four hundred birds breeding on the Audubon island in the 
Stono River would bring four thousand dollars in the millinery markets. 
Knowledge that money can be derived from killing the birds makes a 
strong temptation to some classes of gunners to slip into the rookeries 
and shoot the birds, if they can catch the warden away. Nearly every 
summer there is a fight between the Audubon wardens 
Audubon ^ would-be poachers. In these encounters two 
ar en- ervice ^rardeiis have been killed and others wounded. It is, 
of course, against the law to kill the birds, and also it is illegal in many 
States to sell their feathers. 
The largest nesting-colony of Snowy Egrets in the United States 
of which we have any knowledge is situated in a pond on the estate of 
Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny at Avery Island, Louisiana. Prof. J. S. Huxley 
went carefully through the rookery in the summer of 1916, and reported 
between eight hundred and nine hundred nests. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Snowy Egret belongs to the Order Herodiones and to the Family 
Ardeidce. Its scientific name is Egretta candidissima. It formerly ranged through- 
out the southern half of the United States except the dry plains, and all over South 
America; but is now restricted in North America to the South Atlantic and Gulf 
States. It winters from Mexico and southward. 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 3 cents each, by the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
