CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 107 



661. Dichromanassa rufa (Bodd.) Ridg. b 482, 483. c 455. r 491. 



Reddish Egret. 



662. Florida ccerulea (L.) Bd. B 490. c 45G. r 490. 



Little Blue Heron. 



'663. Butorides virescens (L.) Cab. B 493. c 457. R 494. 

 Green Heron. 



,664. Nyctiardea grisea nsevia (Bodd.) Allen. B 495. c 458. R 495. 



American Night Heron. 



^665. Nycterodius violaceus (L.) Reich. B 496. c 459. r 496. 



Yellow-crovpned Night Heron. 



^QQQ. Botaurus mugitans (Bartr.) Coues. •B492. c 460. R 497. 



American Bittern. 



667. Ardetta exilis (Gm.) Gr. B 491. c 461. R 498. 



Least Bittern. 



661. Di-chro-mS-nas'-sa ru'-fa. Gr. Sty, twice ; xp^^^a) chroma, color ; originally, probably, 



flesh-color; and vaacra, a water-fowl; alluding to the dichroism or dichromatism which 

 prevails in this and other herons, these birds of the same species being found either pure 

 white or variously colored. — Lat. rufus, reddish. 



This stands as Ardea riifa in the orig. ed. See Ridg., Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geogr. 

 Surv. Terr., iv. No. 1, 1878, p. 246. 



662. Fl6'-rl-da coe-rul-e-a. 'La.i.Jloridus, florid, flowery ; flos, a flower ; but the genus is named 



for the State of Florida. — Lat. cceruleus, blue ; see Polioptila, No. 36. 



663. Bia-tor-i'-des vir-es'-cens. Lat. butio or butor, a bittern; equal to bo-laur, botaurus, bos- 



taurus? see Bubo, No. 462; elSos, resemblance. There is also a proper name Butorides — 

 Lat. virescens, present participle of viresco, I grow green, am greenish, from vireo, which 

 see. No. 170. 



664. Nyc-tl-ar'-d€-a gris'-e-a nae'-vi-a. Badly formed from Gr. vv^, gen. vvkt6s, night, and 



Lat. ardea, a heron ; better Noclinrdea, like Novtihtca, &c. — Lat. r/riseus, see Mucrorliam- 

 phus, No. 609, and Leiicosticte, No. 205. — Lat. ncevius, see Turdus, No. 5. 



665. Nyc-ter-6'-di-us vi-6-la'-ce-us. Gr. vi^, night, and epaiSL6s, a heron, like the Latin ardea. 



Commonly written nyctherodius ; but we see no occasion for the h, the e not being aspi- 

 rated ; though the h is seen in the Lat. herodias. — Lat. violaceus, violet-colored ; viola, 

 a violet, pansy. 



636. Bo-tau'-rus mia-gl'-tans. The many words bittern, bitorne, bitore, butor, butio, are all onoma- 

 topcEJc, from the hollow guttural sound of the bird's voice, and are referable to bos- 

 tauriis or bo-taurus? see Bubo, No. 462. — Lat. mugitatis, bellowing ; mugito, I low like a cow ; 

 as the children say, " moo." 



667. Ar-det'-ta ex-i'-lis. Ardetta is an Italian word, equivalent to ardeota, diminutive of ardea. 

 — Lat. exilis, contracted from exigilis, equivalent to exiguus, from exigo, this equal to ex 

 and ago, literally, I drive out. Any thing exacted or exact, is carefully measured, con- 

 sidered, strictly accounted for; hence likely to bo scanty, as opposed to abundant, or 

 superfluous ; therefore, poor, thin, mean, small ; any of these latter adjectives well suited 

 to this lean little bird. We have the idea in several applications in the English words 

 exigency, an emergency; exiguous, small; the French exigeant, exacting; and in our 

 rare though actual word exile, small. (The latter must not be confounded, however, 

 with exile, banishment, one banished ; though this might seem exactly from exigo, " I 

 drive out," it is from another root : exsulo, exsul.) 



