NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 91 



Bittern are from three to five, usually four, in number, pale bluish 

 or greenish-white, elliptical in shape. Six eggs measure as follows : 

 1.15 x. 90, i.i6x.93, 1.33 x. 95, 1.33 x. 93, 1.34 x. 93, 1.33 x. 93. The 

 average size is i.3ox.93. 



192. Ardea occidentalis AUD. [486.] 



Great White Heron. 



Hab. Florida, Jamaica, accidental in Mississippi Valley. 



This beautiful, majestic bird, known as the Florida Heron, is an 

 abundant resident of Florida, the Keys and southward to Cuba and 

 Jamaica. In Florida, however, it is said not to be so abundant as in 

 former years. Whole rookeries have been destroyed by the 'plume 

 hunters,' who collect feathers for hats and other decorative purposes. 

 The birds are killed and the plumes are taken from their back, head 

 and breast, and the carcasses thrown to the buzzards.* 



This Heron nests usually in large colonies, and in company with 

 the Great Blue Heron. Most of the nests are built low down, not 

 more than five or ten feet from the ground, but where the birds are dis- 

 turbed the nests are placed in the highest mangroves. They are 

 simply platforms of sticks. 



The eggs are plain bluish-green, of varying shades; sizes from 

 2.oo to 2.45 long by 1.80 to 1.85 broad. 



The bird known as A. wuerdemanni (Baird)f is believed to be either 

 a colored phase of A. occidentalis, or an abnormal specimen of A. 

 uuardi Ridgw. 



193. Ardea wardi RIDGW. 



"Ward's Heron. 



Hab. Florida. 



This large Heron in its white phase is described as indistinguish- 

 able from the Great White Heron ; in the colored phase like occidentalis, 

 but with the head colored as in the Great Blue Heron. It is restricted 

 to Florida ; common in the southwestern portion, and may frequently 

 be found nesting along the coast. It breeds in communities with other 

 herons, egrets and snake birds, constructing the same kind of nest as 

 does the Great Blue Heron. 



The eggs are four, often only three, in number. Prof. Ridgway 

 gives the average measurement as about 2.65x1.85. Their color is 

 bluish-green. 



194. Ardea herodias LINN. [487.] 



Great Blue Heron. 



Hab. North America, from the Arctic regions southward to the West Indies and South America. 



The Great Blue Heron is often erroneously called " Sand-hill 



*Sec W. E. D. Scott's article on the Present Condition of the Bird Rookeries of the Gulf Coast of 

 Florida in The Auk, Vol. IV, pp. 135-144, 213-222, 273-284. 



tPlaced in the Hypothetical List of the A. O. U. Check List. 



