117* BIRDS OF 



FAMILY AB,DEID,a<3. THE HERONS. 



CHAR. Altricial waders having the bill compressed, pointed, all the outlines nearly 

 straight; the lores and orbits naked: the rest of the head (except, sometimes, the malar 

 region, or part of the throat) feathered, the occiput, also lower foreneck, back, or scapu- 

 lars, frequently with ornamental plumes. Plumage generally handsome and variegated. 

 Two to three pairs of powder-down tracts. Other characters variable. 



The Herons are among the most widely diffused of birds, one 

 species, the common Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) being 

 nearly cosmopolitan. Many of the Old World forms have not 

 been examined in the present connection, but there is good 

 reason for believing that the number of subfamilies here recog- 

 nized as represented in America can be consistently increased. 



Ardeinse. Tail-feathers 12, more lengthened, and decidedly more stiff than the coverts; 

 outer toe as long as or decidedly longer than the inner; claws comparatively shoit 

 and strongly curved. 



Botaurinae. Tail-feathers 10. very short, scarcely more stiff than the coverts; outer toe de- 

 cidedly shorter than the inner; claws lengthened, slightly curved. 



SUBFAMILY ARDEINJE. THE TRUE HERONS AND EGRETS. 



ANALYSIS OF GENERA. 



a. 1 Bill comparatively long and narrow, the culmen longer than the tarsus, and equal to at 

 least five times the greatest depth of the bill ; plumage of the young not conspicu- 

 ously different in pattern from that of the adult Ardea. 



a. 8 Bill comparatively short and thick, the culmen not longer than the tarsus, and equal to 

 not more than four times the greatest depth of the bill; plumage of the young con- 

 spicuously different in pattern from that of ttie adult Uyetieorax. 



