SNOWY HERON. 
25 
to roost. I found these birds on the Mississippi, early in June, 
as far up as Fort Adams, roaming about among the creeks and 
inundated woods. 
The length of this species is two feet one inch; extent, three 
feet two inches ; the bill is four inches and a quarter long, and 
grooved ; the space from the nostril to the eye, orange yellow, 
the rest of the bill black ; irides, vivid orange ; the whole plu- 
mage is of a snowy whiteness; the head is largely crested with 
loose unwebbed feathers, nearly four inches in length ; another 
tuft of the same covers the breast ; but the most distinguished 
ornament of this bird is a bunch of long silky plumes, proceed- 
ing from the shoulders, covering the whole back, and extend- 
ing beyond the tail; the shafts of these are six or seven inches 
long, extremely elastic, tapering to the extremities, and thinly 
set with long, slender, bending threads or fibres, easily agita- 
ted by the slightest motion of the air ; these shafts curl up- 
wards at the ends. When the bird is irritated, and erects those 
airy plumes, they have a very elegant appearance : the legs 
and naked part of the thighs are black ; the feet, bright yel- 
low ; claws, black, the middle one pectinated. 
The female can scarcely be distinguished by her plumage, 
having not only the crest, but all the ornaments of the male, 
though not quite so long and flowing. 
The young birds of the first season are entirely destitute of 
the long plumes of the breast and back ; but, as all those that 
have been examined in spring are found crested and ornament- 
ed as above, they doubtless receive their full dress on the first 
moulting. Those shot in October measured twenty-two inches 
in length, by thirty-four in extent ; the crest was beginning to 
form ; the legs, yellowish green, daubed with black ; the feet, 
greenish yellow ; the lower mandible white at the base ; the 
wings, when shut, nearly of a length with the tail, which is 
even at the end. 
The little egret, or European species, is said by Latham and 
Turton to be nearly a foot in length ; Bev/ick observes, that it 
rarely exceeds a foot and a half ; has a much shorter crest, 
with two long feathers ; the feet are black ; and the long plu- 
