HERONS AND BITTERNS 
225 
Eggs , 3-5, dull blue, of a rather deeper shade than those of the preceding, 
2*25 x 1*60. Date, s. Fla., Feb.; Santee, S. C., Apl. 5. 
Tourists who went to Florida prior to 1880 have told me of prairies 
white with Egrets, of bushy islands glistening in the sun like snow 
banks. Now you may look for miles along a lake shore and perhaps 
in the distance see a solitary Egret, which, as you approach, with a 
frightened squawk takes wing a rifle-shot away. The rapid exter- 
mination of these plume-bearing birds is startling evidence of man’s 
power in the animal world. At his word a species is almost immediately 
wiped out of existence. I have heard a “plume-hunter” boast of killing 
three hundred Herons in a “rookery” in one afternoon. Another proudly 
stated that he and his companions had killed one hundred and thirty 
thousand birds — Herons, Egrets, and Terns — during one winter. The 
destruction of these birds is a blot on Florida’s history. 
1887. Scott, W. E. D., Auk, IV, 135 (destruction in Fla.). 1905. Job, 
H. K., Wild Wings, 134-149 (habits, destruction).— 1908. Chapman, F. 
M., Camps and Cruises, 122-134 (nesting). 
197. Egretta eandidissima candidissima (< Gmel .). Snowy Egret. 
Ads. in breeding plumage. — Entire plumage pure white; about fifty recurved 
‘aigrette’ plumes grow from the interscapular region and reach to or just 
beyond the end of the tail; legs black, feet yellow, bill black, yellow at the 
base; lores orange-yellow. Ads. after thebreeding season and Im. — Without 
the interscapular plumes. L., 24*00; W., 9*75; Tar., 3*80; B., 3*20. 
Range. — Temperate and tropical Am. Formerly bred from Ore., Nebr., 
Ind., Ills., and N. J. s. to Chile and Argentina; now breeds locally in the U. 
S. from N. C., to La.; winters from Fla., southward; casual in B. C., Ont., 
Mass., and N. S. 
Washington, casual; irregular in fall. Long Island, rare S. R. May- 
Sept. Ossining, A. V. 
Nest, a platfom of sticks, in colonies, in bushes over water. Eggs, 3-5, 
pale, dull blue, 1*80 x 1*20. Date, s. Fla., March; Coast S. C., May 5. 
The “curse of beauty” has numbered the days of this the most 
dainty and graceful of Herons. Formerly it was abundant in the South, 
now it is the rarest of its family. The delicate ‘aigrettes’ which it 
donned as a nuptial dress were its death warrant. Woman demanded 
from the bird its. wedding plumes, and man has supplied the demand. 
The Florida Egrets are near the verge of extermination and now he 
is pursuing the helpless birds to the uttermost parts of the earth. 
Mercilessly they are shot down at their roosts or nesting-grounds, the 
coveted feathers are stripped from their backs, the carcasses are left 
to rot, while the young in the nest above are starving. Consular reports 
show that in 1898 the plumes of about 1,538,000 White Herons were 
shipped from Venezuela alone. 
198. Dicliromanassa mfeseens {Gmel.). Reddish Egret. Ads. dark 
phase. — Head and neck rufous-chestnut, glossed with vinaceous; rest of 
plumage dark bluish slate-color; about thirty ‘aigrette’ plumes grow from 
interscapular region and reach beyond tail; legs and feet black. Im.— Simi- 
lar, but without ‘aigrette’ plumes. White phase . — Similar in size and form, 
but entire plumage white, except tips of primaries, which are sometimes very 
