BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



259 



and yellow ; lores }'ellow ; iris 

 red. Young: Withotit plumes; 

 head and neck mostly rusty; 

 upper parts plumbeous mark- 

 ed with rvtst)- ; otherwise 

 similar to the adult. 



Length 23-28 inches; 

 extent 36-40; wing 8.5-1 i; 



tail 



J-.-) 



bill 3.6-5; tarsus 



3.5-4; tibia bare 2.25; middle 

 toe and claw 3. 



Distribution. It ranges 

 through tropical and austral 

 North America, rarely north 

 to New Jersey and Indiana. 

 Its only claim to a place in 

 the New York list rests on 

 "a single specimen shot near 

 Patchogue in the summer of 

 1836" [Giraud, Birds of Long 

 Island, p. 282]. 



L( luisiana heron^ Hvdranassa tricolor ruficollis 

 (Gosse). From specimen in State Museum, s nat. size 



Florida caenalea (Linnaeus) 



Little Blue Heron 



Ardea caerulea Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. 1:143 

 DeKav. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 222 

 A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 200 



flor'ida, named for the state; caerii'lca, Lat., blue 



Description. Adult: L'sual phase slaty blue, becoming purplish chest- 

 nut or maroon colored on the head and neck; base of bill and bare loral 

 space blue; tip of bill and legs black; eyes yellow. You)ig (and sometimes 

 adults) : Pure white, the longer quills tipped with bluish slate. Speci- 

 mens varied with patches of white are not ttncommon. In the voung, 

 the legs, feet and lores are mostly greenish j'ellow, usuall\- showing some 

 trace of bluish. 



Distinguishing marks. The slaty blue wing tips and the greenish 



yellow legs distinguish the white phase of this ])ird from the Snowy heron 



