Notes on Birds of Long Island.— Ardea egretta and A. candidissima.— 
It is a pleasure to note that both ‘ White Herons ’ are still entitled to notice 
among the present avifauna of Long Island, notwithstanding the con¬ 
tinued persecution to which both species throughout the entire limits of 
their range have been of late years subjected, and the consequent diminu¬ 
tion in their numbers. 
Their persistent occurrence on Long Island in spite of their decline in 
numbers is rather remarkable and may be regarded as denoting that Long 
Island is an attractive feeding ground for this genus of birds. It may 
also be that there exists an instinct affecting certain individuals leading 
them to migrate in the autumn in a direction contrary to that of the 
species as a whole, or, that the genus is simply prone to a wandering, 
restless disposition. Since Mr. Dutcher’s note on the former was pub¬ 
lished (Auk, III, x, p. 435) nothing, I think, has appeared to show that 
either of the birds now nest on Long Island, and it seems questionable 
whether the birds have nested so far north since the prevailing demand 
for their plumes first began. Late occurrences of the two species are as 
follows: 
During the autumn of 1897 several ‘ White Herons ’ were noted about 
the shores of Jamaica Bay, Queen’s County, by several observers, from 
whom I heard of them. Chas. Ward, a gunner of Rockaway Beach, shot 
several on or about October 1, one of which was merely wing-tipped. 
This bird was preserved alive for some time, in which condition I saw it 
on October 9, it having then been in captivity about a week or ten days. 
The bird was confined in a boat builder’s shop where its unnatural sur¬ 
roundings affected it unfavorably, as it appeared drooping and sick. It 
proved to be a specimen of the American Egret, Ardea egretta. 
A flock of Snowy Herons, Ardea candidissima , comprising six or seven 
individuals, was seen on the salt meadows near East Rockarvay in mid- 
August this year (1899). Two of these, which were wing-tipped, are now 
in the possession of Mr. Daniel DeMott of East Rockaway. They are at 
present in apparently excellent condition, established in roomy, comfort¬ 
able quarters, with out-door run and with in-door shelter. Mr. DeMott 
recalls having seen ‘White Herons’ in his locality fifteen years ago, but 
none since until the present summer. He writes: “The two which I now 
have would eat from my hand a week or two after their capture. I now' 
have them in a yard enclosed in wire netting with a coop eight feet high 
attached. I notice they sit in the uppermost part of the coop most of the 
time during the day unless called out to be fed ; but when night comes 
they will leave the coop and sit in the open yard until morning.” The 
chief food of the Herons is small fish, with which they are kept abun¬ 
dantly supplied. Mr. DeMott has several other wild birds quartered in 
separate enclosures, including Black-bellied Plovers, Turnstones, and one 
Golden Plover, all in apparently excellent condition and comprising in 
all a decidedly interesting natural history exhibit. 
£ v /iy\ Cu<S fvi , 0, , $ *7 , 
Auk, XVII, Jan., 1900, pj>.<£f-7° 
Ardea egretta. American Egret. -Three of these birds wandered 
into our county in July, 1883, and two of them were shot near Kent on 
the 27th of that month. One of these is now in the possession of Mr. 
Edgar Ford of Carlyon, who shot it. 
.i'W Auk, XVI, April, 1899, pp.i^3-6. 
lr 1 C, 
Ardea egretta. Through the courtesy of Capt. James G. Scott, keeper 
of the Montauk Point Light, I am enabled to record the second specimen 
of the American Egret which has come under my observation from Long 
Island (Auk, XVII, 1900, p. 67). Capt. Scott informs me that he shot the 
bird on July 23, 1900, on Oyster Pond Beach (Montauk). The mounted 
skin is now in the possession of Capt. Jesse B. Edwards, keeper of the 
Amagansett Life Saving Station, to whom I am indebted for measurements 
and other particulars concerning the bird. The following data are noted : 
Length, 39^ inches (dry skin); length of bill, 4\ inches. 
Auk, XIX, April., 1902, p . i V 5 ' 
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