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BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
The local names, Little Egret, Lesser Egret, Little Snowy, and 
Bonnet Martyr, give a clue to the sad history of this hunted bird. Its 
delicate plumes, recurved at the tip, are the “cross aigrettes’ 7 of the 
millinery trade, whose sale, after a long, arduous campaign, has been 
prohibited by law. 
While the persecuted Snowys are now rarely seen, the protection 
afforded them in recent years by the game' wardens of the Audubon 
Society has enabled them to increase in numbers in a few localities. A 
protected rookery on an artificial pond close to a gentleman's residence 
in Louisiana offers a good illustration of the legitimate pleasure to be 
had from these beautiful birds—heretofore slaughtered at their nests 
for the decoration of hats. On tills protected nesting ground the Egrets 
are so unafraid that one of the greatest pleasures of their host and his 
human guests is to watch them during the spring evenings as their snow- 
white forms appear one after another, on their return home to roost, or 
to relieve their mates on guard at the nests. A gratifying and thrilling 
sight it is, indeed, and one full of pathos when we remember the work 
of the plume hunters whose role has been to lie in wait for the faithful 
parents at the rookeries and, shooting them down, leave the young to 
starve in their nests. 
In New Mexico one of the Snowy Egrets appeared at the G. 0. S. 
ranch, October 21, 1908, and was watched for several hours “flying 
about the barn buildings in company with a flock of domestic pigeons," 
after which it lit on a pond where it was shot in cold blood by one of the 
farm hands. 
It is especially interesting to hear that two of the rare birds once 
spent a summer not far from the Agricultural College of New Mexico 
in a tule-filled sink bordered by cottonwoods and tornillos, and it is to 
be hoped that if they ever repeat this experiment they will be safe¬ 
guarded in a manner befitting the neighborhood of an institution of 
sound valuations. It is also gratifying to learn that in Argentina the 
Snowy Heron is on the list of birds protected by a decree of the President. 
Additional Literature.—Antwonet, E., and A. 0. Treganza, Condor, XVI, 
245-250, 1914.— Bent, A. C., U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 135, 146-156, 1926.— Pearson, 
T. G., Educational Leaflet 54, Nat. Assoc. Audubon Soc.; Bull. 5, Nat. Assoc. 
Audubon Soc., 1924 (Herons of U. S.). 
GREEN HERON: Butorides virescens virescens (Linnaeus) 
Description. — Length: 15.5-22.5 inches, wing 6.3-8, bill 2-2.5, tarsus 
1.7-2.1. Crown and back with lanceolate plumes, back of neck bare, covered 
by long feathers of sides of neck. Adults: Top of head and long soft crest , dark 
glossy green; hack with long gray plumes glossed with green; wings and tail dark glossy 
green, wing coverts marked with lighter; sides of head and neck mainly rich maroon; 
throat with narrow medium line whitish, streaked with brown; rest of underparts 
brownish gray; iris orange or yellow; bill mainly greenish black; legs and feet 
