. Birds of La Plata . but the majority were closetogether, at one side of the colony, where the reedswere taller and less broken. The nests of N, obscurus much resembled thelatter in construction and material; but very fewwere interspersed amongst those of the other species,being retired to the side opposite A, candidissima,on the borders of some channels of clear water;there they were placed amongst the high reeds, anda few yards apart from each other. The larger Egrets remained standing on theirnests till I was within twenty yards of them, andalighted again when I had passed. In this positio
. Birds of La Plata . but the majority were closetogether, at one side of the colony, where the reedswere taller and less broken. The nests of N, obscurus much resembled thelatter in construction and material; but very fewwere interspersed amongst those of the other species,being retired to the side opposite A, candidissima,on the borders of some channels of clear water;there they were placed amongst the high reeds, anda few yards apart from each other. The larger Egrets remained standing on theirnests till I was within twenty yards of them, andalighted again when I had passed. In this positionthey looked much larger than when flying. Thesmaller Egrets first flew up on to the reeds, and thenimmediately took to flight, not returning; while N,obscurus rose and sailed away, uttering a deep squawk,squawk, long before one came near the nest. At one side of the colony a nest of Ciconiamaguari, with two full-grown young, seemed like thereigning house of the place. It certainly was one of the finest ornithological. WHISTLING HERON 103 sights I ever saw: all around a wilderness of darkgreen rushes, rising above my head as I sat on horse-back; the cloud of graceful snow-white birdsperched everywhere, or reflected in the water asthey flew to and fro overhead; and the hundreds ofblue eggs exposed to the bright sunlight. A, egretta and A^ candidissima lay four eggs each,though the former rarely hatches out more thanthree. JV. obscurus lays and hatches out three. Theeggs of all three species are of the same shade ofUght blue. WHISTLING HERON Ardea sibilatrix Above grey; cap, crest, and wings greyish black; a rufouspatch behind the eye; upper wing-coverts rufous; beneath white,with yellowish tinge on breast; beak reddish. Length 32 similar. This is a beautiful bird, with plumage as soft asdown to the touch. Its colours are clear blue-greyand pale yellow, the under surface being nearlywhite. In some specimens that I have obtained therump and tail-coverts had a pure pr
Size: 1298px × 1926px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1920
