666 



U. S. p. E. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS— ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



HERODIAS, Boie. 



i/crorfias, BoiE, Isis, 1822,559. Type .Qrdea tgretta. NotofBonap. 1855. 

 Egntta, BoNAP. Saggio di una dist. Met. 1831. Type Jlrdea egretta. 



Ch. — Colorwliite. Bill quite slender. Culmen nearly straight ; more convex terminally than the gonys. Middle toe more 

 than half the tarsus. Tibia bare for one-lialf. Outer toe longest. Claws moderate, considerably curved. Tarsus broadly scutellate 

 anteriorly. Head smooth. Back in breeding season with a series of fastigiate plumes longer than the tail, and curving gently 

 downwards. Tail of twelve broad stiffened feathers. Back of neck well feathered. Colors pure white at all times. 



The white heron from southern California is much larger than that from the eastern States, 

 and possibly distinct. 



HERODIAS EGRETTA, Gray. 



White Ilerou. 



.irdea egretta, Gmelin, I, 1788, 629. — Lath. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, C94, (not of other older European writers.) — 

 Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, 1813, 105; pi. vi. — Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827; ^rdeasp. 7.— Bonap. Oss. 

 Cuv. 97.— NoTTALL, Man. II, 1834, 47.— Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 600 ; pi. 386.— Ib. Syn. 265.— 

 Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 132 ; pi. 370. 



Herodias egretta, Guat, Genera. — Gundlach, Cab. Jour. IV, 1856, 341. 



.Irdea leuce, " Illicer," Licht. Verz. 1823, sp. 793. 



Egrctla leuce, Bonap. (Saggio, 1831 .') List, 1838. 



Herodias leuce, Brerm, Handbuch, 1831, 585. 



.irdea alba, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1825, No. 189.— Ib. Syn. 304. (Not of Linnaeus.) 



Great egret, Pennant, II, 446. — Latham. 



Sp. Ch. — Head smooth ; bill yellowish to the tip ; feet black. Color pure white. Length, 39 inches ; wing, 15.50 ; tarsus, 

 5.70; bill above, 4.70. 



Ilab. — Southern portions of the United States ; straggling to Massachusetts. 



Bill, with the culmen and gonys about equally curved, the commissure slightly concave near 

 the tip. Legs slender, elongated ; middle toe about three-fourths the tarsus. Tibia hare for 

 about half its length. Head without a crest; the feathers lying close. Lower part of the back, 

 in the breeding season, with a series of elongated feathers, with stiffened shafts, the plumulae 

 distant and elongated. These feathers are gently pendent (not recurved) and extend beyond 

 the tail by about its length ; their total length is nearly three times that of the tail. The 

 fieathers of the lower part of the neck but little elongated. 



Color entirely white; feet black; hill yellowish, dusky above, (in 9298.) According to 

 Audubon, the entire bill and the iris are yellow. 



This species appears to differ from the European U. alba in lacking a black tip to the bill 

 which is five inches long, not six ; the tarsus is about six inches long, instead of eight. 



List of specimens. 



