ART. 10 



BIRDS OF PINCHOT EXPEDITION FISHER AND WETMORE 35 



that displayed due respect for it. A pig that ill advisedly planned 

 to appropriate a piece of food which the bird was eating had a rapid 

 change of heart, evinced by his quick retreat, sudden squeal, and the 

 shaking of his head. 



BUTOEIDES VIRESCENS HYPERNOTIUS Oberholser 



Panama green heron 



Butorides virescens hypernotius Obkrholsek, Proc. U. S. Nat. Miis., vol. 42, 

 August 29, 1912, p. 549. (Rio Indio, near Gatuu, Canal Zone.) 



An adult male taken on Cocos Island June 6, 1929, by A. K. Fisher 

 agrees with hypernotius in size but is slightly lighter on the abdo- 

 men that our series of that bird. As the skins of the Central 

 American bird seen are somewhat stained by grease it appears that 

 the difference noted is probably adventitious. Gifford '^^ observed 

 that the green heron was found in small numbers on Cocos Island in 

 September, 190o, and recorded that in size his specimens are smaller 

 than those of California {B. v. anthonyi). The present specimen 

 bears out this statement and indicates that the bird is the Panaman- 

 ian form, which ranges from central Costa Rica through the Canal 

 Zone to Colombia. The skin in hand has the following measure- 

 ments : Wing, 171.5 ; tail, 62.3 ; exposed cuimen, 58.9 ; tarsus, 51.1 mm. 

 The claws are worn blunt at the ends, indicating probably that the 

 bird walked about much on stones. 



Two individuals only of this heron were seen at Cocos Island. 

 One at Chatham Bay flew up from the small bovvlders at the mouth 

 of a stream where it crossed the beach, before the boat landed. After 

 we reached shore we looked for it but it could not be found, nor was 

 it seen on subsequent trips. The specimen secured at Wafer Bay 

 was taken in a swampy tract a short distance back from the beach. 

 It evidently had been feeding recently as its gullet contained three 

 good-sized fish {Sicydium) . 



BUTORmES SUNDEVALLI Sharps 



Galapagos heron 



Butorides suiulevaUi Shabpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. 26, 1898, p. 185. 

 (James Island, Galapagos Archipelago.) 



Two specimens w^ere taken in the Galapagos, an immature male 

 at Tower Island June 14, 1929, and an adult female at Duncan Island 

 June 26. The young bird is quite distinctly streaked below. 



The Galapagos heron was seen almost daily along the low lava 

 reefs or at the edges of tide pools, where it was so tame it could 

 easily be approached. The specimen from Duncan Island was taken 

 by LeMert S. Mills, an active young seaman, who caught it as he 

 landed from a skiff. 



2= Proc. California Acad. Sci., vol. 2, Aug. 11, 1913, pp. 65, 66. 



