Length to end of tail 13 1/2 inches, to end of claws 16; to end of wings 12 4/12; extent of wings 17 3/4; wing from flexure 5 1/4; tail 1 11/12; bill along the ridge 1 3/4, along the edge of lower mandible 2 1/2; tarsus 1 8/12; middle toe 1 1/2, its claw 5/12. Weight 4 3/4 oz.
Adult Female. Plate CCX. Fig. 2.
The Female is smaller, and differs considerably from the male in colour. The bare parts and iris are the same. The upper part of the head is reddish-brown, with a tinge of green; the back and scapulars are dark chestnut, and there is a line of yellowish-white along each side of the back, formed by the outer edges of the feathers. The rump is darker, the tail bluish-black as in the male. In other respects the colouring is similar, but the feathers of the fore neck and sides have each a narrow central line of dark brown.
Length to end of tail 12 inches; wing from flexure 4 3/4; tail 1 3/4; bill along the ridge 1 3/4, along the edge of lower mandible 2 2/12; tarsus 1 1/2; middle toe 1 5/12, its claw 5/12. Weight 3 1/2 oz.
Young in first plumage. Plate CCX. Fig. 3.
The young has the bill, eyes and feet, nearly of the same tints as the old; but the upper parts of the plumage are generally of a light brownish-red, variegated with brownish-yellow; the primary quills and tail black.
I have lately received a letter from my friend John Bachman, stating that he had found this species breeding in considerable numbers on the plantation of James H. Smith, Esq. six miles east of Charleston, where he procured specimens both of the birds and of their eggs. Mr Smith’s sons had killed, in the course of a couple of weeks, not less than fourteen of these diminutive Herons. He describes the nest as flat, composed of pieces of dry rushes about a foot in length, and placed in a bunch of Juncus effusus. The eggs were nearly white with a very light tinge of blue.
THE EGGERS OF LABRADOR.
The distinctive appellation of Eggers is given to certain persons who follow, principally or exclusively, the avocation of procuring the eggs of wild birds, with the view of disposing of them at some distant port. Their great object is to plunder every nest, whenever they can find it, no matter where, and at whatever risk. They are the pest of the feathered tribes, and their brutal propensity to destroy the poor creatures after they have robbed them, is abundantly gratified whenever an opportunity presents itself.
Much had been said to me respecting these destructive pirates before I visited the coast of Labrador, but I could not entirely credit all their cruelties until I had actually witnessed their proceedings, which were such as to inspire no small degree of horror. But you shall judge for yourself.