NO. 1039. 



REVISION OF ARDEA HER0DIA8—0BERH0LSER. 



541 



Localities. 



Wing. 



Tail. 



Exposed 

 culmen. 



Height 

 of bill 

 at base. 



Tarsus. 



Middle 

 toe. 



Eleven males, from Florida and Georgia , 



Two males, from Texas 



One male, from Jalisco, Mexico 



Six males, from southwestern Indiana , 



One male, from southeastern Iowa 



One male, from Kansas , 



Seven females, from Florida , 



Two females, from southwestern Indiana and south- 

 eastern Illinois 



mm 

 499.1 



496 



486 



476 



486 



490 



477.2 

 453 



mm 

 192.3 



185.5 



.195 



182.2 



190 



184 



181.5 

 185.5 



mm 

 158 



156.5 



146 



145.7 



153 



158 



143.7 

 138 



mm 

 31.1 



30 



29 



27.8 



29 



29 



28.1 

 26.3 



mm 

 211 



214.5 



202 



183.4 



194 



202 



205.4 

 180.5 



mm 



119.8 



123 



115 



107.6 



119 



107 



116.2 



This subspecies is evidently resident in Florida, as there is no West 

 Indian or Bahaman specimen ; and there are numerous winter records 

 for Florida. It winters also north at least to southern Alabama, 

 probably farther in the Mississippi Valley. An example which 

 Messrs. E. W. Nelson and E. A. Goldman obtained at Ocotlan, Jalisco, 

 Mexico, on December 25, 1902 (No. 184944, U.S.N.M.), seems to be 

 undoubtedly of this form, and probably marks nearly or quite the 

 southern limit of its winter range. 



It breeds rather early in the year, at least in Florida; commonly in 

 March (Suwanee River, Lafayette County, March 21, 1890, Mr. F. M. 

 Chapman; Fort Gardner, March 9, 1901, Dr. E. A. Mearns) ; and, occa- 

 sionally, at least, by the middle of January, for Mr. C. A. Smith found 

 nest and eggs at Rutland, Florida, on January 15, 1890. 



The form of Ardea herodias here called Ardea herodias wardi was 

 first described by Mr. Ridgway as a full species,^ on the hypothesis 

 that Ardea Jierodias, Ardea occidentalis, and Ardea wardi should be 

 regarded as three distinct species, of which the last two were consid- 

 ered to possess both a white and a colored phase. That, however, 

 Ardea wardi is but a subspecies of Ardea lierodias, is evident from the 

 regular intergradation with Ardea lierodias lierodias that takes place 

 wherever the ranges of the two closely approach, from South Carolina 

 to Illinois. Furthermore, pure white birds {Ardea occidentalis) occur 

 only on the Florida Keys and the adjacent West Indian islands; and 

 the so-called Ardea wilrdemannii only where the ranges of Ardea 

 occidentalis and Ardea wardi overlap. The complicated and puzzling 

 relationships of these four birds — Ardea occidentalis, Ardea wiirde- 

 mannii, Ardea wardi, and Ardea herodias — will be more fully dis- 

 cussed in a separate paper. Suffice it here further to state that the 

 writer regards Ardea herodias as specifically distinct from Ardea occi- 

 dentalis; Ardea wardi the Florida subspecies of Ardea herodias;^ Ardea 



1 Ardea wardi Ridgway, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vol. 7, January, 1882, p. 5. 



2 See Chapman, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 14, April 15, 1901, pp. 88- 



