"In November of 1873 I found a large breeding-colony of _Ardea egretta_, _A. candidissima_, and _Nycticorax obscurus_ in the heart of a lonely swamp. The rushes were thick, but had been broken down by the birds in a patch some fifty yards in diameter. There were from 300 to 400 nests, as well as I could judge; of these three fourths were of _A. egretta_, and the remainder, with the exception of two or three dozen of _N. obscurus_, belonged to _A. candidissima_. Those of the first-mentioned species were slight platforms, placed on the tops of broken rushes, at a height of from two to three feet above the water, and barely a yard apart. "The nests of _A. candidissima_ were built up from the water to the height of a foot or a foot and a half, with a hollow on the top for the eggs; they were very compactly put together, of small dry twigs of a water-plant. A good many were distributed amongst those of _A. egretta_; but the majority were close together, at one side of the colony, where the reeds were taller and less broken. "The nests of _N. obscurus_ much resembled the latter in construction and material; but very few were interspersed amongst those of the other two 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, and a few yards apart from each other. "The larger Egrets remained standing on their nests till I was within twenty yards of them, and alighted again when I had passed. In this position they looked much larger than when flying. The smaller Egrets first flew up onto the reeds above the nests, and then immediately 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 _Ciconia maguari_, with two full-grown young, seemed like the reigning house of the place. "It certainly was one of the finest ornithological sights I ever saw: all around a wilderness of dark green rushes, rising above my head as I sat on horseback; the cloud of graceful snow-white birds perched everywhere, or reflected in the water as they flew to and fro overhead; and the hundreds of blue eggs exposed to the bright sunlight. "_A. egretta_ and _A. candidissima_ lay four eggs each, though the former rarely hatches out more than three. _N. obscurus_ lays and hatches out three. The eggs of all three species are of the same shade of light blue." 317. ARDEA CANDIDISSIMA, Gm. (SNOWY EGRET.) +Ardea candidissima+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 125; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 189 (Buenos Ayres); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 158 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 271 (Entrerios). +Garzetta candidissima+, _Baird, Brew., et Ridgw. Water-B. N. A._ i. p. 28. +Ardea nivea+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 509.