ardeidjE — ardeinjE: herons. 875 



A. cine'rea. (Lat. cinerea, asliy.) Common Heron of Europe. Ashy Heron. Johanna 

 Heron. Heronshaw, Hernshaw, Heronsew, Hernsew, Hernser, and "Handsaav" 

 of literature. Type of tlje restricted genus Arclea. Similar to herodias (see uext) ; easily dis- 

 tinguished by the white (not rufous) tibife and edge of wing, and ashy neck. Europe, Asia, 

 Africa; only North Aniprican as a straggler to Greenland. Fabricius, Fn. Groenl. 1780, 

 p. 106; Reinh. Ibis, l^Gl, p. 9, Nenortalik ; Coues, Key, 2d-4th eds. 1884-90, p. 658 ; 

 A. O. U. Li,sts, 188()-95, No. [195]. 



A. hero'dias. (Gr. tpcoSioj, erodios, Lat. herodiiis, more properly erodius, a heron, probably 

 Ardea cinerea of Europe. The form herodias seems to have been affected from the Biblical 

 proper name of a notorious woman, 'HpcoSt'ay, Lat. Herodias, 9 patronymic from 'HpSrjcos-. 

 This is probably tlie Linntean sense of the word. Fig. 611.) Great Blue Heron. Ked- 

 shouldered Heron. Blue Crane of the people. Of large size, and varied dark colors ; 

 not dicliromatic ; never white. In breeding season sca{)ulars lengthened and lanceolate, but 

 not decomposed ; an occipital crest, two deciduous feathers of which are long and filamentous ; 

 long loose feathers on lower neck. Length 42.00-50.00; extent about 70.00; wing 18.00- 

 20.00; tail 7.00-8.00; bill 4.50-6.25, usually 5.00-6.00; tibite bare 3.00-4.00 ; tarsus 6.00- 

 8.00; usually 6.50-7.00 ; middle toe and claw about 5.00. 9 average smaller than $. Weight 

 (5 or 8 lbs. Adult $ ^ , m breeding dress : Bill yellow, more or less blackened on culmen ; 

 lores blue; iris chrome-yellow; legs and feet blackish, soles yellowish. Tibia and edge of 

 wing cliestnut-brown. Forehead and middle of crown white ; sides of crown and occipital crest 

 black. Neck pale purplish-gray, with a mixed white, black, and rusty throat-line, yielding to 

 white on chin and cheeks. Plumes of lower neck, breast, and belly, black, more or less inter- 

 rupted with white streaks on mid<lle line; crissum white. Upper ])arts in general slaty-blue; 

 tail the same; h>ng scapular feathers more pearly gray; wing-quills deepening from this color 

 to the black primaries. Young: without any long feathers. Crown and front without white; 

 whole top of head blackish. Tibiae and edge of wing paler rufous, or whitish. General color 

 of upper parts paler and more grayish-blue, more or less tinged with rusty. Black of under 

 ))arts replaced by ashy. Upper mandible mostly blackish ; lores and most of lower mandible 

 greenish, rest of the latter, and eyes, yellow; tibiae greenish. There are endless variations in 

 plumage and colors of soft parts, but this large species cannot be mistaken, being only closely 

 related to the uext. North America at large, and much of Central and northern Soutli America, 

 and West Indies; N. to Labrador, Hudson's Bay, and Sitka in Alaska; northerly migratory; 

 elsewhere resident. Breeds in suitable places throughout its range, sometimes singly, oft- 

 ener in heronries to which the birds resort year after year, shared usually with other species of 

 its tribe. Nest usually in trees or bushes, sometimes on the ground ; in the We.it sometimes on 

 difls ; eggs 3-6, oftenest 3-4, pale dull greenish-blue, ellipsoidal, about 2.50 X 1-50. 

 A. ward'i. (To Chas. W. Ward, of Pontiac, Mich.) Ward's Heron. Larger than he- 

 rodias: Length 48.00-54.00; extent about 80.00; wing 20.00-21.00; bill 6.00-7.00; tibiie 

 bare 5.50-6.00; tarsus 8.00-9.00. Adult $ ^ , m breeding plumage : General appearance of 

 herodias; head-markings the same, the occiput and plumes very black, the foreliead and 

 middle of crown white; but white prevailing on under parts, wliich are only narrowly streaked 

 with black ; legs and feet olivaceous rather than blackish ; bill (divaceous. Young not satisfac- 

 torily distinguished from wuerdemanni : rather larger than herodias Eggs 3-4, 2.60 X 1-80. 

 Florida, resident. A. uxirdi Hidgw. Bull. Nutt. Club, vii, Jan. 1882, p. 5; admitted to Key, 

 2<l-4th eds., 1884-90, p. 658, with reservation; Rinow. Man. 1887, p. 129; A. 0. U. Lists, 

 l88»>-95. No. 193. The status of the supjufsed species is dubious. Birds of the character here 

 assigned abound in Florida, and are easily recognized ; they may be a local race of herodias, 

 or the result of interbreeding between herodias and occidentalis. A slight strain of occideutalis 

 running in herodias might \mnh\cc ward i ; and subsequent admixture of jmrrfi with occiden- 

 tiilis mii:lit rrsult in wuerdmiantii. But doubtless tliis form should staiul as ,1. h. wardi. 



