JAN., 1909. BIRDS OF ILLINOIS AND' WISCONSIN CORY. 



367 



Great Blue Heron. 



upper parts, bluish slate or gray.- The immature birds show a great 

 variety of color in the plumage. 



Length, 48; wing, 20; tail, 7; tarsus, 6.50; bill, 5.50. 



The Great Blue Heron is a common summer resident in Illinois 

 and Wisconsin, breeding throughout both states. It usually arrives 

 from the south in March or early in April. It breeds in May. The 

 nest is a mass of sticks, usually in large trees. The eggs are three or 

 four, pale blue in color, and measure about 2.50 x 1.50 inches. 



Genus HEROD1AS Boie. 



83. Herodias egretta (GMEL.). 

 AMERICAN EGRET. 



Ardea egretta Gmel., A. O. U. Check List, 1895, p. 71. 



Distr.: Temperate and tropical America, from New Jersey, Illi- 

 nois, and % Oregon south to Patagonia; accidental as far north as 

 Minnesota and Nova Scotia. 



Adult: Entire plumage, white, having in the breeding season long 

 graceful plumes on the back, which extend beyond the tail; bill, 

 yellow; legs and feet, black; lores, pale orange, edged with greenish. 



Length, 38; wing, 16; tarsus, 5.80; bill, 4.80. 



The American Egret was at one time a common summer resident 

 in Illinois and not uncommon in Wisconsin, but it is now rare. 



"A rather common summer visitant throughout northern Illinois. 

 ***** Breeds in southern Illinois and perhaps in other parts of 



