Bill Venturi, age 9, of Chattanooga, Tenn., for his question:

IS THE EGRET REALLY A HERON?

Egret is a name given to various species of heron, especially those having white plumage and bearing long, soft plumes on the lower parts of their backs during the breeding season.

In the United States, three species of heron are known as egrets: the American egret, which grows to be about 40 inches long, the snowy egret which is about 24 inches long and the reddish egret which is about 29 inches long.

The reddish egret can be found in two color phases: one white and the other slate blue with a red head and neck.

All three American egrets were nearly exterminated because hunters indiscriminately slaughtered the adult birds during the nesting season for their valuable plumes, known in the millinary trade as aigrettes. Protective legislation now ensures perpetuation of these species.

The cattle egret, a native of Africa, is now established in the U.S. It was not seen in the western hemisphere before 1937 when it first appeared in what is now Guyana. Experts say it crossed the Atlantic Ocean by the trade winds. First seen in the U.S. in 1942, the birds, now numbering several thousand, live mostly in Florida.