72 ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 



Com. Char. Prevailing color ocliraceous, darker above and paler below. Pileum with, a lon- 

 "itudinul space of black ; an inniiaculate ]iale-colored area covering wing-coverts ; iront of neck 

 indistinctly striped longitudinally with a deeper shade, upon a whitish ground, liemiges and 

 rec^trices unil'orni dusky, with or without ochraceous tips. 



A. Lower ])arl of tibia naked all round; upper parts nearly uniform hrovm, or hrown and hlaclc, 



untlumt consjjicuo^is stripes. 



1. A. minuta.^ Remiges uniform black. Wing, 5.80-5.90 ; culmen, 1.70-1.75. Hah. Falve- 



arctic Region. 



2. A. exilis. Remiges narrowly tipped with rufous. Wing, 4.30-5.25 ; culmen, 1.60-1.90. 



II((h. North, Middle, and northern South America. 



B. Lower part of tibia feathered in front. Upper parts conspicuously striped with black and 



ochraceous. 



3. A. involucris.- Remiges broadly tipped with rufous. Wing, 4.85 ; culmen, 2.00. Hah. 



Southern South America. 



Ardetta exilis. 



THE AMERICAN LEAST BITTERN, 



Little Bittern, Pex\. Arct. Zool. II. 1785, 453, no. 359 (part). 



Mimtte Bittern, Lath. Syiiop. III. 17S5, 6C (Jamaica; ^= 9 ad.). 



Ardea exilis, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 645, no. 83 (based on the Minute Bittern of Lath. I.e.). — Wils. 



Am. Orn. VIII. 1814, 37, pi. 65, fig. 4. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 66. — AuD. Orn. Biog. III. 



1835, 77 ; V. 1839, 606, pi. 210 ; Syuop. 1839, 263 ; Birds Aiu. VI. 1843, 100, pi. 366. 

 Ardetta exilis, GuNDL. J. f. 0. 1856, 345. — Baird, B. N". Am. 1858, 673 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, 



no. 491. — RiDGW. Norn. N. Am. ?>. 1881, no. 498. — CouES, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 667. 

 "i. Ardea spadicca, Gmel. t.c. 641 (lieichcuow). 



Hab. The whole of temperate North America, north to the British Provinces ; West Indies, 

 Middle America, and northern South America, to Brazil. Bermudas. 



Sp. Char. Adult male : Pileum, including slight occijjital crest, with entire back, scapulars, 

 rump and tail, glossy greenish black, the outer webs of the outer row of scapulars edged with 

 pale buff, forming a narrow longitudinal stripe. Sides of the head and neck bright ochraceous, 

 deepening into red<lish chestnut on the nape ; chin, throat, and foreneck paler, the first sometimes 

 whitish, with a medial series of dusky and yellowish-buff dashes ; the I'oreneck and jugulura 

 faintly stripe<l with white and pale orange-buff, the latter predominating ; on each side the breast 

 a patch of maroon-dusky, the feathers tipped with jialer and suffuscid with blackish, forming tufts 

 of large loose feathers, partly concealed by the large feathers of the jugulum ; lower jiarts whitish, 

 washed with pale creamy-buff. Carpal region, greater -wing-coverts, lower webs of tertials and 



1 AllUETTA MINUTA. 



Ardea minuta, Lixx. S. N. 1. 1766, 240. — Naum. VUg. Deutschl. IX. 1838, 194, pi. 227. — Gray, 



Gen. B. III. 556 ; Cat. Brit. B. 1863, 148. 

 Bota.urus minutus, Boik, Isi.s, 1822, 559. 

 Ardcola minuta, Bonap. Coiisp. List, 1838, 48. 

 Ardea danuUalis, Gmei-. S. N. I. 1788, 637. 

 Ardea soloniensis, Gmel. I. c. 

 Botaurus pusillus, Biieiim, Viig. Deutschl. 598. 



2 Ardetta involucris. 



Ardea involucris, Vieill. Enc. Mcth. 1823, 1127. 



Ardetta invohwris, Sol. & S,\lv. P. Z. S. 1869, 634. 



'( Ardea cry thromelas, Vikill. Enc. Meth. 1121 (based on Garza roxa ?/ negra, AzAiiA, Apunt. 



III. 182). 

 Ardcola crytliromelas, Bonap. Consp. II. 1855, 134. 

 Ardea variegata, Vieim,. t.c. 1127 (based on Garza varia, Azara). 



