ARDEID.E — THE HERONS — BUTORIDES. 



49 



species differ quite as much among themselves in certain respects. Upon the whole, this genus 

 may be considered one of the most strongly marked in the entire group. 



Leaving out B. plumhea,^ of tlie Galapagos, of which we ha\'c seen only ;iu inimatui'e example, 

 tlie three remaining American species of this genus may be distinguished as follows : — 



Coir. Char. Neck uniform chestnut or ash-gray, with an anterior longitudinal series of 

 white and rufous stripes. Lanceolate feathers of the pileum glossy greenish black ; wing-coverts 

 conspicuously bordered with rusty or whitish. Young with the colors duller, and the pattern 

 indistinct. 



A. Neck chestnut or rufous. 



L B. brunnescens.- Head and neck, except pileum, uniform chestnut-rufous ; wing-coverts 

 very narrowly edged with rufous. Young : nearly uniform rusty brownish. Wing, 6.40- 



1 BtJTORiDES PLUMBEA (Sundevdl). 



Ardea ijlumhea, Sundev. P. Z. S. Feb. 7, 1871, 125, 127 (James L, Galapagos). 



Butoridcs pluvibeus, ScL. & Salv. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 125. — Salvin, Trans. Zool. See. IX. ix. 



1875, 497. 

 Ardea Sundcvalli, Eeichexow, J. f. 0. July, 1877, 253 (s. g. Butorides). 

 Young 9. transition pi. (nearly adult) : Whole pileum uniform greenish black, slightly glossy. Upper 

 parts in general dark brownish slate, the scapular plumes in certain lights appearing glaucous with white 

 shafts, in other lights slightly metallic bottle-greenish. Eeniiges bluish plumbeous, decidedly glaucous. 

 Wing-coverts (new feathers, adult plumage), dark slaty, with bottle-green gloss, narrowly edged with 

 light rusty. Chin and throat white, sparsely marked with dusky. Sides and fore part of the neck dusky, 

 like the nape, but tinged with purplish brown, the foreneck marked with longitudinal .streaks of white 

 and light rusty. Remaining lower parts uniform dark brownish slate. Lining of the wings dusky, nar- 

 rowly streaked with fulvous white. 



Wing, 6.90 ; tail, 2.70 ; culmen, 2.50 ; depth of bill, through nostril, .50 ; tarsus, 1.95 ; middle toe, 

 1.75 ; bare part of tibia, .45. 



[Described from a specimen in Mus. Salvin & Godman ; Indefatigable L, Galapagos, Aug. 25, 1868. 

 Length, 18.00 ; extent, 26.00. Iris orange yellow.] 



2 BuTOiUDES brunnescens. The Brown Heron. 



Ardea Irunncsccns, "Guxdl. MSS." Lemb. Aves de Cuba, 1850, 84, pi. 12. — Reich enow, 



J. f. 0. 1877, 255 (s. g. Butorides). 



Butorides brunnescens, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 677 (in text); Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 494. 



Sp. Char. Length, about 19.00-20.000; extent, 27.0; wing, 6.40-7. 00; tail, 2.50-3.00; culmen, 



2.20-2.75 ; depth of bill, .45 ; tarsus, 1.85-2.30 ; middle toe, 1.70 ; bare portion of tibia, .50. Adult : 



"The top of the head and long glossy occipital feathers are dark glossy green ; the scapulars and inter- 



B. bru7inescens, juv. 



scapulars pale green, washed with bluish gray, having light gray shafts ; the wing-coverts very narrowly 

 edged with rufous ; the entire neck and long feathers extending over the breast bright brownish chestnut, 

 paler on the chin ; abdomen dark plumbeous ash, tinged with rufous on the sides. The wing measures 

 VOL. I. — 7 



