GREAT WHITE HERON. oJ 
York, It enters the territories of the United States 
late in February; this I conjectiiro from haying brst 
met with it in the southern parts of Georgia about that 
time. The high inland parts of the country it rarely 
or never visits; its favourite haunts are vast inundatea 
su’umps, rice fields, the low marshy shores ot riyers, 
and such like places ; where, from its size ami colour, 
it is vcrv constiicuous, even at a great distance. 
The anpearancc of this bird, during the first season, 
■'vhen it is entiroly destitute of the lou*^ tlowiu^ plumes 
the haek, is so diiferent from the same hird lu its 
perfect uhima^o, ^^hi^■h it obtains iu the thud year, 
that naturalists and others very generally consider them 
as two distinct species. The opportunities whicli 1 
have fortunatclv had of observing them with t.ie tram 
m various stages of its progress, from its hrst appearance 
to its full erowth, .satisties me that the great white 
ueronn ith, and that without, the long plumes, nro one 
and the same species, in different periods ot age. In 
*i>e museum of mv friend, Mr Pcale, there is a speeimcn 
ol' this hird, in which the train is wanting ; hut on a 
closer examination, its rudiments are jdainly to be 
perceived, extending several indies beyond tlic common 
plumao-e. 
The” gi-oat white heron breeds in several of ft® 
extensive cedar swamiis in the lower parts ot_ JNcw 
Jersey. Their nests are built on the trees, in societies; 
fho structure and materials exactly similar to those ot 
fue snowy heron, but larger. The eggs arc usuallv 
lour, of a pale blue colour. In the month.s of .Tuly and 
August the young make their first appearance in tliq 
“madows and marshes, in parties of twenty or thirty 
fogether. The large ditches with which the extensive 
Meadows below Philadelphia arc iiitci-seetcd, are regii- 
about that season, visited by tlocks ot those 
mrds ; these are frequently shot, hut the old ones are 
too sagacious to he easily approached. Their iood 
consists of frojTs, lizards, small iish, insects, seeds ot tlie 
splatterdock, (a species of iiymplux*,) and small vater 
Snakes. Tliey will also devour mice and moles, the 
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