a 
398 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
SUB-ORDER HERODIONES. 
Bill generally thick at the base and much longer than the head; frontal feathers 
with a rounded outline; lores, and generally the region round the eye (sometimes 
most of the head), naked. 
The primary characteristic of the Herodiones, though physiological rather than 
zoological, is of the highest importance; the young are born weak and imperfect, 
and are reared in the nest, being fed directly by the parent until able to take care of 
themselves, when they are generally abandoned. In the Gralle, on the contrary, 
the young run about freely, directly after being hatched, and are capable of securing 
food for themselves under the direction of the parent. 
The chief zoological character (not, however, entirely without exception) is to be 
found in the bill, which is generally very large, much longer than the head, and 
thickened at the base so as to be nearly or quite as broad and high as the skull; the 
lores are almost always naked, or, if covered, it is with feathers of a different kind 
from those on the rest of the body; the hind toe in most genera is lengthened and 
on a level with the anterior, so as to be capable of grasping; sometimes, however, it 
is elevated and quite short. — BArrD. 
Famity ARDEIDA. Tuer Herons. 
Bill conical, acuminate, compressed, and acute; the edges usually nicked at the 
end; the frontal feathers generally extending beyond the nostrils; tarsi scutellate 
anteriorly; the middle toe connected to the outer by a basal web; claws acute; the 
edge of the middle one serrated or pectinated on its inner edge. 
GARZETTA, Bonaparte. 
Garzetta, BONAPARTE, Consp., II. (1855) 118. (Type Ardea garzeita, L., 
whether of Kaup, 1829?) 
Bill slender; outlines nearly straight to near the tip, when they are about 
equally convex; middle toe more than half the tarsus; tarsi broadly scutellate ante- 
riorly; tibia denuded for about one-half; outer toe longest; head with a full occipital 
crest of feathers having the webs decomposed, hair-like; feathers of lower part of 
throat similar; middle of back with long plumes reaching to the tail, recurving at 
tip; these plumes and the crest apparently permanent; lower part of neck behind, 
bare of feathers; colors pure-white in all ages. 
GARZETTA CANDIDISSIMA. — Bonaparte. 
The Snowy Heron. 
Ardea candidissima, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 638. Wils. Am. Orn., VII. 
(1818) 120. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 49. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 317; V. 
(1839) 606. 
Garzeita candidissima, Bonaparte. Consp. (1855), 119. 
