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FAMILY ARDEINiE. 



HERONS. 



GENUS ARDEA — LINN. 

 HERONS. 



[Bill longer than the htad — stout, tapering, pointed ; head compressed ; neck 

 Tery long — legs long and slender — larger portion of the tibia bare — tarsus com- 

 pressed — claws long, arched, acute — thai of the hind toe much larger — wings 

 long and broad — tail short, consisting of twelve feaiheis.] 



ARDEA HERODIAS— LINN. 

 GREAT BLUE HERON. 



Ardea Herodias, Wils. Amer. Orn. 



Ardca Heiodias, Bonap. Syn. 



Great Heron, Ardea Herodias, Nutt. Man. 



Great Blue Heron, Ardea Heroidas, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Bill seven inches and a quarter, tarsi six 

 inches ; bill yellow, stout, gradually tapering to a point ; upper 

 mandible a quarter of an inch longer than the lower. Adult with 

 the crown white, broadly banded with black, with occipital plumes 

 —cheeks and throat white ; neck ash-color, with a longitudinal 

 band on the fore neck, white, spotted with bluish-black ; a tuft of 

 long feathers on the lower portion of the fore neck ; flanks bluish ; 

 breast and abdomen black and white ; thighs reddish-brown : tail, 

 back, and wing coverts grayish-blue; primaries bluish-black; 

 shoulders of the wings rufous ; under tail coverts pure white. 

 Length four feet, wing eighteen. 



On the salt marshes of Long Island, the Great Blue Heron is 

 common. On the north shore of the South Bay, it is but seldom 

 met with, con lining itself almost entirely to the wet and miry 

 marshes in the vicinity of the beach. In its habits it is diurnal as 

 well as nocturnal, and is observed by day wading out on the shoals, 

 collecting crabs and various species of shell-fish — and at times it is 

 seen standing in the water up to its knees, with its bill poised over 



