238 AVES: HERODIONES. — XXXVI. 
variegated everywhere ; foreneck striped with buffy ; a dark patch 
on each side of neck. L. 23 to 28. W.12. T.44. B.3. N. Am.,, 
abundant. (Lat., freckled.) 
aa. Size very small; sexes unlike, the young unlike adult. (Ardetta Gray). 
729. B. exilis (Gmelin). Least Birrern. ¢ chiefly glossy 
greenish black above, brownish yellow below, neck, shoulders and 
wings with chestnut; a buffy area on wing coverts; 9 with brown 
instead of black. L.14. W.5. T. 1%. B. 13. N. Am., in reedy 
swamps. (Lat., slender). 
374. ARDEA Linnezus. (Lat. heron.) 
a. Bill shorter than tarsus. 
6. Length more than 35 (in adult); tarsus not twice middle toe without 
claw. 
c. Color chiefly bluish; head crested in breeding season; dorsal plumes 
short. (Ardea.) 
730. A. herodias L. GreaT BiuE Heron. Grayish blue, 
marked with black and white; crown black with white centre ; 
forehead white ; lower parts dusky, striped with white; tibia and 
edge of wing cinnamon brown. L. 42 to50. W.19. B. 61. Ts. 
7. T. 7. @Q smaller. N. Am., generally common.  (épw6du.0;, 
heron.) 
cc. Color white; no crest; back in breeding season with long plumes. 
(Herodias Boie.) 
731. A. egretta Gmelin. GREAT WuitrEe Ecret. L. 40. 
W. 1%. .B. 5. Ts. 6. Amer, chiefly S?--(Fr., argretic, a top- 
knot.) 
bb. Length 20 to 32. 
d. Tarsus not nearly twice middle toe without claw. 
e. Color pure white at all times; plumes of breeding season very 
long, recurved, with loose webs. (Garzetta Kaup.) 
732. A. candidissima Gmelin. Snowy EGret. WHITE 
“CRANE.” LL. 24.. W;.12.\.B, 3./:T.4.. ‘Dropieal Amenea,; ae 
to N. Y., abundant. (Lat., very white.) 
ee. Color slaty blue, the head and neck maroon; the young white, 
and sometimes the adult nearly or quite white ; plumes slender, 
with compact webs. (Florida Baird.) 
733. A. cerulea L. Littte Brut Heron. L. 24. W. 12. 
T.4. B.3. Ts. 4. Eo Am) Neto Wl; common. 
dd. Tarsus twice as long as middle toe without claw. (Dichromanassa 
Ridgway.) 
734. A. rufescens Gmelin. REppisH EGRET. Slate color; 
head and neck cinnamon; young grayish. L. 30. W.13. B. 4. 
Ts. 5. Southern, N. to Ill. (Lat., reddish.) 
aa. Bill not shorter than tarsus; L. less than 30. 
J. Scapular plumes in @ straight, hair-like, reaching beyond tail; wing 
more than 8, (Hydranassa Baird.) 
