BIRDS—ARDEIDAE—DEMIEGRETTA LUDOVICIANA. 663 
are chiefly in the duller blue of the body, and the absence of the decided reddish of the neck. 
The bill is black at the end and reddish at the base. 
Audubon and, latterly, Bonaparte, have united the H. pealeti and rufa into one, considering 
the former as the two-years stage of the latter, and, as such, capable of reproduction. I agree 
with Dr. Gambel in considering them to be distinct, as the immature H. rufescens is now well 
known as described above. Judging from the specimens before me, the pealezi has shorter toes 
and longer tarsi than the other. 
List of specimens. 
Catalogue number. | Sex and age. | Locality. Whence obtained. Collected by— 
| | | 
4146 | ° Matamoras, ‘Texas. <..c2.-.| Lieut. Couch .c.sccccsecess | Dr. Berlandier 
DEMIEGRETTA LUDOVICIANA, Baird. 
Louisiana Heron. 
Ardea ludoviciana, Witson, Am. Orn. VIII, 1814, 13; pl. xvi, f. 1, (not of Linnaeus, which is Butorides virescens. )— 
Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 192.—Nurratx, Man. II, 1834, 51.—Avup. Orn. Biog. III, 1835, 
136: V, 605; pl. 217.—In. Syn. 266.—Is. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 156; pl. 373. 
Egretta ludoviciana, Bonar. List, 1838. 
Ardea leucogaster, Orv ed. Wilson, VIII, 125, 13.—? Wace er, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 14. 
Egretta ruficollis, Gosse, Birds Jam. 1847, 338. 
Herodias ruficollis, Can. Cab. Jour. IV, 1856, 342. 
Herodias lewcoprymna, ‘‘ Licur.’’ Bonar. Consp. H, Jan. 1855, 124. 
Sp. Cu.—Slaty blue on head, neck, and exposed portion of body above ; lower back, rump, under parts, longest occipital 
feathers and the middle line of the throat, white ; occiput, nape, and neck behind, purplish. Bill brownish black above and at 
tip. Legs yellowish green. Young with the blue of head and neck replaced by purplish rufous, blotched with blue. 
Length, 25 ; wing, 10.50; tarsus, 4; bill above, 4. 
Hab.—Coast of South Atlantic and Gulf States. 
Bill very slender and much attenuated, as long as the tarsus ; the upper and lower outlines nearly 
straight, or slightly concave to near the tip, when they become gently convex. Legs rather 
short ; middle toe about three-fourths the tarsus; inner lateral toe decidedly more than half the 
tarsus. Head with an elongated occipital crest, the longest feather the length of the toes; the 
feathers composing it as well as those covering the neck all round, and the upper part of the 
back, are lanceolate, acute, and well defined in their outlines. The lower part of the back, 
with a plumose train of feathers with the fibrillae distant, elongated, fastigiate, and nearly 
straight, or curving gently downwards. In the specimen before me this train is a little longer 
than the tail, but, according to Mr. Audubon, it becomes sometimes lengthened to such a degree 
as to sweep the ground. | 
The prevailing color of this species on the head, neck, wing, tail, and exposed portion of the 
body above, is slaty blue; the occiput, nape, and lower part of neck, (except inferiorly,) purplish. 
The six or eight longest feathers of the occipital crest, the chin, and central line of the throat, 
and the entire body, white, except the interscapular region. The white of the lower back and 
rump is concealed by the train, the feathers of which have concealed white at the base, and are 
of light brownish, tinged with purple. 
