THE GKEAT WHITE HERON. 
111 
arrival, when I was prevented from accompanying him by my anxiety to 
finish a drawing, he came in with two young birds alive, and another lying 
dead in a nest, which he had cut olf from a mangrove. You may imagine 
how delighted I was, when at the very first glance I felt assured that they 
were different from any that I had previously seen. The two living birds 
were of a beautiful white, slightly tinged with cream-colour, remarkably fat 
and strong for their age, which the worthy pilot said could not be more 
than three weeks. The dead bird was quite putrid and much smaller. It 
looked as if it had accidentally been trampled to death by the parent birds 
ten or twelve days before, the body being almost flat and covered with filth. 
The nest with the two live birds was placed in the yard. The young 
Herons seemed quite unconcerned when a person approached them, although 
on displaying one’s hand to them, they at once endeavoured to strike it with 
their bill. My Newfoundland dog, a well-trained and most sagacious 
animal, was whistled for and came up ; on which the birds rose partially on 
their legs, ruffled all their feathers, spread their wings, opened their bills, and 
clicked their mandibles in great anger, but without attempting to leave the 
nest. I ordered the dog to go near them, but not to hurt them. They 
waited until he went within striking distance, when the largest suddenly hit 
him with its bill, and hung to his nose. Plato, however, took it all in good 
part, and merely brought the bird towards me, when I seized it by the 
wings, which made it let go its hold. It walked off as proudly as any of its 
tribe, and I was delighted to find it possessed of so much courage. These 
birds were left under the charge of Mrs. Egan, until I returned from my 
various excursions to the different islands along the coast. 
On the 26th of the same month, Mr. Thruston took me and my 
companions in his beautiful barge to some keys on which the Florida 
Cormorants were breeding in great numbers. As we were on the way we 
observed two tall White Herons standing on their nests ; but although I was 
anxious to procure them alive, an unfortunate shot from one of the party 
“brought them to the water. They were, I was told, able to fly, but probably 
had never seen a man before. While searching that day for nests of the 
Zenaida Dove, we observed a young Heron of this species stalking among 
the mangroves that bordered the key on which we were, and immediately 
pursued it. Had you been looking on, good reader, you might have enjoyed 
a hearty laugh, although few of us could have joined you. Seven or eight 
persons were engaged in the pursuit of this single bird, which, with extended 
neck, wings, and legs, made off among the tangled trees at such a rate, that, 
anxious as I was to obtain it alive, I several times thought of shooting it. 
At length, however, it was caught, its bill was securely tied, its legs were 
drawn up, and fastened by a strong cord, and the poor thing was thus 
