taining a good chance as I thought, I fired at a remarkably large bird,
and distinctly heard the shot strike it. The Heron merely croaked, and
pursued its course. Not another bird came near enough to be shot at,
although many had alighted on the neighbouring key, and stood perched
like so many newly finished statues of the purest alabaster, forming a fine
contrast to the deep blue sky. The boats joined us. Mr EGAN had one
bird, the Captain another, and both looked at me with surprise. We
now started for the next key, where we expected to see more. When we
had advanced several hundred yards along its low banks, we found the
bird at which I had shot lying with extended wings in the agonies of
death. It was from this specimen that the drawing was made. I was
satisfied with the fruits of this day's excursion. On other occasions I
procured fifteen more birds, and judging that number sufficient, I left the
Herons to their occupations.
This species is extremely shy. Sometimes they would rise when at the
distance of half a mile from us, and fly quite out of sight. If pursued,
they would return to the very keys or mud-flats from which they had
risen, and it was almost impossible to approach one while perched or
standing in the water. Indeed, I have no doubt that half a dozen specimens
of Ardea Herodias could be procured for one of the present, in the
same time and under similar circumstances.
The Great White Heron is a constant resident on the Florida Keys,
where it is found more abundant during the breeding season than anywhere
else. They rarely go as far eastward as Cape Florida, and are not
seen on the Tortugas, probably because these islands are destitute of mangroves.
They begin to pair early in March, but many do not lay their
eggs until the middle of April. Their courtships were represented to me
as similar to those of the Great Blue Heron. Their nests are-at times
met with at considerable distances from each other, and although many
are found on the same keys, they are placed farther apart than those of
the species just mentioned. They are seldom more than a few feet above
high water-mark, which in the Floridas is so low, that they look as if only
a yard or two above the roots of the trees. From twenty to thirty nests
which I examined were thus placed. They were large, about three feet
in diameter, formed of sticks of different sizes, but without any appearance
of lining, and quite flat, being several inches thick. The eggs are
always three, measure two inches and three quarters in length, one inch
and eight-twelfths in breadth, and have a rather thick shell, of a uniform
plain, light bluish-green colour. Mr EGAN told me that incubation continues
about thirty days, that both birds sit, (the female, however, being
most assiduous,) and with their legs stretched out before them, in the
same manner as the young when two or three weeks old. The latter, of
which I saw several from ten days to a month old, were pure white, slightly
tinged with cream colour, and had no indications of a crest. Those which
I carried to Charleston, and which were kept for more than a year, exhibited
nothing of the kind. I am unable to say how long it is before
they attain their full plumage as represented in the plate, when, as you
see, the head is broadly but loosely and shortly tufted, the feathers of the
breast pendent, but not remarkably long, and there are none pf the narrow
feathers seen in other species over the rump or wings.
These Herons are sedate, quiet, and perhaps even less animated than
the A. Herodias. They walk majestically, with firmness and great elegance.
Unlike the species just named, they jloclc at their feeding grounds,
sometimes a hundred or more being seen together ; and what is still more
remarkable is, that they betake themselves to the mud-flats or sand-bars
at a distance from the Keys on which they roost and breed. They seem,
in so far as I could judge, to be diurnal, an opinion corroborated by the
testimony of Mr EGAX, a person of great judgment, sagacity and integrity.
While on these banks, they stand motionless, rarely moving towards
their prey, but waiting until it comes near, when they strike it and
swallow it alive, or when large beat it on the water, or shake it violently,
biting it severely all the while. They never leave their feeding grounds
until driven off by the tide, remaining until the water reaches their body.
So wary are they, that although they may return to roost on the same
keys, they rarely alight on trees to which they have resorted before, and
if repeatedly disturbed they do not return, for many weeks at least.
When roosting, they generally stand on one foot, the other being drawn
up, and, unlike the Ibises, are never seen lying flat on trees, where, however,
they draw in their long neck, and place their head under their
wing.
I was often surprised to see that while a flock was resting by day in
the position just described, one or more stood with outstretched necks,
keenly eyeing all around, now and then suddenly starting at the sight of
a Porpoise or Shark in chase of some fish. The appearance of a man or
a boat, seemed to distract them ; and yet I was told that nobody ever
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