SPECIES 9. JlRBEJi CJINBIDISSIMA. 
SNOWY HERON.* 
[Plate LXII.-Fig. 4.] 
Tukt. 8yst. p. 380. — Lath. Syn. v. 9,p. 92, JYo. 61. — Pbale’s 
Museum, JV’o. Sr85. 
This elegant species inhabits the seacoast of North America, 
from the isthmus of Darien to the gulf of St. Lawrence, and is, 
in the United States, a bird of passage; arriving from the south 
early in April, and leaving the middle states again in October. 
Its general appearance, resembling so much that of the Little 
Egret of Europe, has, I doubt not, imposed on some of the na- 
turalists of that country, as I confess it did on me.t From a 
more careful comparison, however, of both birds, I am satisfied 
that they are two entirely different and distinct species. These 
differences consist in the large flowing crest, yellow feet, and 
singularly curled plumes of the back of the present; it is also 
nearly double the size of the European species. 
The Snowy Heron seems particularly fond of the salt marsh- 
es during summer; seldom penetrating far inland. Its white 
plumage renders it a very conspicuous object, either while on 
wing, or while wading the meadows or marshes. Its food con- 
sists of those small crabs, usually called fiddlers, mud worms, 
snails, frogs and lizards. It also feeds on the seeds of some spe- 
cies of nymph®, and of several other aquatic plants. 
On the nineteenth of May, I visited an extensive breeding 
place of the Snowy Heron, among the red cedars of Sommer’s 
beach, on the coast of Cape May. The situation was very seques- 
tered, bounded on the land side by a fresh water marsh or pond, 
* Named in the plate, by mistake, the Little Egret. 
t “ On the American continent, the Little Egret is met with at New York and 
Long island.” Lath, v, 3, p. 90. 
