ARDEID.E — THE HERONS. 



122* 



Hab. The whole of North and Middle Amorica, excepting Arctic districts; north to 

 Hudson's Bay, "Fur Countries," and Sitka; south to Colombia, Venezuela, and the 

 Galapagos; Bermudas, and throughout the West Indies. 



Sp. Char. Adult: Length, about -12.00-50.00; extent, 72.00; weight, b to 8 pounds. 

 Forehead and central feathers of the crown pure whito; sides of crown and whole of the 

 occiput, including the long plumes, blue-black. Chin, throat, and malar region pur- 

 white. Nock lavender-gray, fading gradually above into the white of cheeks and throat. 

 Foreneck with a narrow median series of black and ferruginous dashes mixed with white; 

 lower neck-plumes pale lavender-gray. Lateral jugular tufts uniform blue-black; br- 

 and abdomen black, almost uniform laterally, but the middle feathers with broad median 

 stripes of white. Under tail-coverts white, sometimes edged with rufous. Tibial leath- 

 ers deep chestnut-rufous, not growing conspicuously paler toward the body. Upper 

 parts fine slate-blue, the dorsal and scapular plumes paler, more pearl-gray-the lightness 

 of the tint proportionate to the length of the plume; remiges black, the inner secondaries 

 growing gradually more slaty, so that the innermost are scarcely darker than the tertials. 

 Tail d«ep slate-blue, a shade darker than the tertials. Entire border of the wing, from the 

 armpit to the metacarpophalangeal joint, rich purplish rufous, scarcely mixed anywhere 

 with white, and much the widest at the bend. Bill olive above, the culmen blackish; lower 

 mandible wax-yellow, brighter terminally (sometimes wholly yellow); iris bright yellow; 

 bare loral space cobalt- blue in spring, olive-greenish or yellowish after breeding season. 

 Leg* and feet dusky-black, the tibiee paler, more olivaceous, sometimes tinged with yellow- 

 ish Young : Above slate-gray (less bluish than in the adult), destitute of any penicillate 

 plumes; anterior lesser wing-coverts bordered terminally with light rufous; border of the 

 wing (broadly) white, more or less tinged with rufous, especially at and near the bend, 

 where this color prevails. Entire pileum, including all the occipital feathers, blackish- 

 sla-e, with a narrow median crest of more elongated darker-colored feathers, with pale ful- 

 vous shaft-streaks. Cheeks dark grayish; malar region, chin, and throat only, pure wl 

 Neck dull gray, sometimes tinged with rufous, some of the feathers with indist.i 

 lighter shaft-streaks; foreneck with a narrow longitudinal series of black, rufous, and 

 whitish dashes, much as in the adult. Breast and abdomen broadly striped with dark 

 cinereous and white, in nearly equal amount (sometimes suffused with rufous . Tibia: 

 very pale rufous, sometimes almost white; crissum white. Upper mandible black, paler, 

 or horn-color, along the tomium; lower, pale pea-green, deepening into clear horn-yellow 

 on terminal half; eyelids and horizontal space on lores light apple-green; iris gamboge 

 yellow; tibia and soles of toes, apple-green; rest of logs and feet black. 



Wing 17 90-19 85; tail. 7.30-8. 00; culmen, 4.30-6.00; depth of bill, through middle of nos- 

 tril. 0.85-1.10; naked portion of tibia, 3.50-5.00; tarsus, 6.00-8.00; middle toe. 3.50-4.50. 

 [Extremes of 17 adult specimens.] 



The Great Blue Heron is a common bird throughout the 

 State, except in localities far removed from streams or ponds 

 which furnish its food supply. It sometimes winters in the ex- 

 fcreme southern counties, but it is usually a migrant, returning 

 from the south in February, March, or early April, according to 



t he Ia1 i' N<le. 



Solitary and wary, lliis bird may be seen standing in shallow 

 water, often in mid-stream, but it requires greai caution and 

 skill on the part of the person who, with ",-un in hand, fan ap- 

 proach within killing distance of an adult bird, the young being 



