76 ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 



large enough to hold the eggs, which are usually four iu number. There is a coarse 

 cane-like grass growing on the borders of the lakes and rivers of Wisconsin ; this is 

 some eight feet in height, and is a favorite breeding-hamit for this bird. 



Mr. K. B. Moore writes from Manatee, Florida, that on the 26th of April, 1874, 

 he found this species with already fully grown young ones. The only other Heron 

 having young ones so iar advanced at that time was the Great White Egret. It 

 feeds chiefly from a perch over the water, clinging to the u^jright stems of grasses 

 and sedges, feeding apparently as comfortably thus as when perched on the 

 depressed stems or blades of the same, on the branches of willows, or on other 

 small trees that overhang or di}) into the water. It dodges away among the saw- 

 grass and sedges that serve for a hiding-place, clambering with ease along the 

 upright stems, or twisting and turning along the tangled masses of the same in 

 the manner of a Eail. 



It has been found breeding in Wisconsin in great abundance by Professor 

 Kumlien, and the nest was always near the ground and usually among reeds, not 

 far from water, and was generally very slight — a mere collection of decayed rushes 

 and coarse grasses, barely enough to keep the eggs from the damp ground. The 

 eggs, usually six or seven in number, are white, with a very slight tinge of greenish. 

 They are of a rounded oval shape, and there is no difference as to size in either 

 end ; they are entirely unspotted. Two eggs in my collection, Nos. 114 and 1269, 

 give the extreme of variation — one measuring 1.32 inches in length by 1 inch in 

 breadth, the other 1.25 inches by 1.00. 



Family CICONIID.E. — The Stoeks. 



Char. Large, Heron-like birds, with the bill much longer than the head, thick 

 through the base, and more or less elongate-conical ; the nostrils sub-basal, more 

 or less superior, and bored into the bony substance of the bill, without overhanging 

 or surrounding membrane ; maxilla without any lateral groove. Legs covered with 

 small, longitudinally-hexagonal scales ; claws short, depressed, their ends broad 

 and convex, resting upon horny, crescentic "shoes;" hallux with its base elevated 

 decidedly above the base of the anterior toes. 



The above characters are sufficient to define this family, which is more intimately 

 related to the Ibises (Jbididce) and Spoonbills (Plataleldce) than to the Herons (see 

 page 2). There are tAvo well-marked sub-fa.milies, with the following characters : — 



Sul (-family Ciconiinae. Bill elongate-conical, acute, compressed, the end not decurvetl, tfiongh 

 sometimes recurved. Nostrils rather lateral than superior. Toes very short, the middle one much 

 less than half the tarsus (only a little more than one third) ; lateral toes nearly equal ; claws 

 short, broad, nail-like. 



Sulj-lamily Tantalince. Bill eloufrateil, subconical, subcylindrical, the end attenuated and 

 decurved, with tlie tip rounded ; nostrils decidedly superior; toes long, the middle one, one half 

 or more the length of the tarsus ; lateral toes unequal, the outer decidedly longer than the inner ; 

 claws moderately lengthened, rather narrow, claw-like. 



