. Birds of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, a manual for the identification of species in hand or in the bush;. Birds; Birds. FAM. XLV. HERONS, EGRETS, ETC. 267 the back (in the breeding season) reaching beyond the tail. To get these plumes, which are at present fashionable for ladies' hats, this species and the next must be shot in the breeding season; so a few years of this " fashion " have made these most graceful and dainty birds very rare, and a few years more of the slaughter will render them extinct. Some women wearing such plumes try to exonerate themselves from


. Birds of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, a manual for the identification of species in hand or in the bush;. Birds; Birds. FAM. XLV. HERONS, EGRETS, ETC. 267 the back (in the breeding season) reaching beyond the tail. To get these plumes, which are at present fashionable for ladies' hats, this species and the next must be shot in the breeding season; so a few years of this " fashion " have made these most graceful and dainty birds very rare, and a few years more of the slaughter will render them extinct. Some women wearing such plumes try to exonerate themselves from blame on the plea that the birds are killed without their ap- proval, but that being dead no harm can be done by purchasing and using their feathers. They are forgetful of the fact that every use of such a plume continues the fashion, increases the demand, and leads to the further killing of birds in constantly increasing numbers. Hence all who wear the plumes are directly responsible for the slaughter of the birds. Length, 40 ; wing, 15 (14-17); tail, 6 ; tarsus, 6 ; culmen, 4^-5. Tem- perate and tropical America; breeding north to Illinois and New Jersey, straying to New Brunswick and Mani- toba, and wintering from Florida to Patagonia. 8. Snowy Heron (197. Arclea candidissima). — A small, beauti- ful, crested, pure white heron, with about fifty recurved, "ai- grette " plumes on the back dur- ing the breeding season. The bill and legs are black, and the lores and feet yellow. Becom- ing exceedingly rare, because killed, like No. 7, in the breed- ing season. (Snowy Egret.) Length, 20-27 ; wing, 9± (8$-10£) ; tail, 4; tarsus, 3|; culmen, 2-3^ Temperate and tropical America; Snowy Heron breeding north to Long Island, and wintering from Florida south to central South America, casually north to Nova Scotia and British Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1898