134 
GREAT AMERICAN' WHITE EGRET. 
and Charleston in. South Carolina, I saw many of these Egrets on the large 
rice plantations, and felt some surprise at finding them much wilder at that 
period of their migrations than after they have settled in some locality for 
the purpose of breeding. I have supposed this to be caused by the change 
of their thoughts on such occasions, and am of opinion that birds of all 
kinds become more careless of themselves ; as the strength of their attach- 
ment toward their mates or progeny increases through the process of time, 
as is the case with the better part of our own species, lovers and parents 
performing acts of heroism, which individuals having no such attachment to 
each other would never dare to contemplate. In these birds the impulse of 
affection is so great, that when they have young they allow themselves to be 
approached, so as often to fall victims to the rapacity of man, who, boasting 
'of reason and benevolence, ought at such a time to respect their devotion. 
The American Egrets are much attached to their roosting places, to which 
they remove from their feeding grounds regularly about an hour before the 
last glimpse of day ; and I cannot help expressing my disbelief in the vulgar 
notion of birds of this family usually feeding by night, as I have never 
observed them so doing even in countries where they were most abundant. 
Before sunset the Egrets and other Herons (excepting perhaps the Bitterns 
and Night Herons) leave their feeding grounds in small flocks, often com- 
posed of only a single family, and proceed on wing in the most direct course, 
at a moderate height, to some secure retreat more or less distant, according 
to the danger they may have to guard against. Flock after flock may be 
seen repairing from all quarters to these places of repose, which one may 
readily discover by observing their course. 
Approach and watch them. Some hundreds have reached the well-known 
rendezvous. After a few gratulations you see them lower their bodies on 
the stems of the trees or bushes on which they have alighted, fold their 
necks, place their heads beneath the scapular feathers, and adjust themselves 
for repose. Daylight returns, and they are all in motion. The arrangement 
of their attire is not more neglected by them than by the most fashionable 
fops, but they spend less time at the toilet. Their rough notes are uttered 
more loudly than in the evening, and after a very short lapse of time they 
spread their snowy pinions, and move in different directions, to search for 
fiddlers, fish, insects of all sorts, small quadrupeds or birds, snails, and rep- 
tiles, all of which form the food of this species. 
The nest of the Great White Egret, whether placed in a cypress one hun- 
dred and thirty feet high, or on a mangrove not six feet above the water, 
whether in one of those dismal swamps swarming with loathsome reptiles, 
or by the margin of the clear blue waters that bathe the Keys of Florida, is 
large, flat, and composed of sticks, often so loosely put together as to make 
