628 THE FANNIN HERON. 
No. 249. 
FANNIN’S HERON. 
A. O. U. No, 194a. Ardea herodias fannini Chapman. 
Synonym.—Nortuwest Coast Heron. 
Description.—Adults: Similar to 1. herodias but of darker coloration, wita 
shorter tarsus, and averaging smaller; upperparts bluish slaty black instead of 
slaty blue; tibie said to be more extensively feathered. Length: 40.00-45.00 
(1016-1143); wing 17.50 (444.5); tarsus 5.50 (128.3). 
Recognition Marks.—<As in preceding; darker. 
Nesting.—Not peculiar. 
General Range.—Northwest Coast district from the Straits of San Juan de 
Fuca and (possibly) Gray’s Harbor north to Queen Charlotte Islands and west 
coast of British Columbia. 
Range in Washington.—As above, transitional form resident along north- 
west coast-line from Port Townsend to Gray’s Harbor. 
Authorities——No valid publication. B.(?) E.(?). 
Specimens.— Prov. E.( ?). 
THIS more darkly colored and somewhat smaller bird has been 
described from the regions of maximum rainfall here in the Pacific North- 
west, and the Queen Charlotte Island group is assigned as the type locality. 
In the nature of the case it is impossible to draw a hard and fast line of 
separation between this and the interior form, On theory the bird should 
begin to differentiate as the rainfall increases. This would affect specimens 
from the entire Puget Sound region, and more especially birds from Gray’s 
Harbor and the coastal districts. Whether this gradual deepening of color 
and decrease of size is really traceable could be determined only by 
a large series of specimens. Such a series, I hold flatly, it would be a 
crime to secure, because of the higher esthetic interests presented in 
this bird; and I make no apology, therefore, for stating an unsolved 
problem. 
In note-book usage we call all resident Herons from Olympia, west- 
ward and northward, Fannin’s, just as we call Crows found along shore, 
Northwests. That they are chiefly resident thruout this region and north- 
ward is well known, and it is the condition concomitant which permits the 
display of variation. 
