In birds of other genera, repletion is invariably followed by a period of listless inactivity during which no food is taken or required. But the Heron digests his food so rapidly that, however much he devours, he is always ready to gorge again; consequently he is not benefited by what he eats, and appears in the same state of semi-starvation when food is abundant as in times of scarcity. An old naturalist has suggested, as a reason for this, that the Heron, from its peculiar manner of taking its prey, requires fair weather to fish--that during spells of bad weather, when it is compelled to suffer the pangs of famine inactive, it contracts a meagre consumptive habit of body, which subsequent plenty cannot remove. A pretty theory, but it will not hold water; for in this region spells of bad weather are brief and infrequent; moreover, all other species that feed at the same table with the Heron, from the little flitting Kingfisher to the towering Flamingo, become excessively fat at certain seasons, and are at all times so healthy and vigorous that, compared with them, the Heron is the mere ghost of a bird. In no extraneous circumstances, but in the organization of the bird itself, must be sought the cause of its anomalous condition; it does not appear to possess the fat-elaborating power, for at no season is any fat found on its dry starved flesh; consequently there is no provision for a rainy day, and the misery of the bird (if it is miserable) consists in its perpetual, never-satisfied craving for food. 316. ARDEA EGRETTA (Gm.). (WHITE EGRET.) +Ardea egretta+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 125; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 189 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 399 (Centr. Patagonia); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 156 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 624 (Salta); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 271 (Entrerios, Pampas). +Ardea leuce+, _Burm. Syst. Ueb._ iii. p. 416; _id. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 509. +Herodias egretta+, _Baird, Brew., et Ridgw. Water-B. N. A._ i. p. 23. _Description._--White above and beneath; bill yellow; legs black; head not crested; side-plumes lengthened and decomposed: whole length 35·0 inches, wing 15·0, tail 6·0. _Female_ similar, but rather smaller. _Hab._ North and South America. The White Egret inhabits America from Nova Scotia to Patagonia, and is everywhere common, so that its breeding and other habits are very well known. On the pampas, owing to the absence of forests, its nesting-habits have been modified, for there it makes its nest amongst the reeds; as do also other species which elsewhere in America, North and South, build on trees. The following interesting account of a heronry on the pampas is from a paper by Mr. Gibson:--