117* Bl&Oa OF lU^NUUi. 



Fajiily ARDEID^.— The Herons. 



Char. Altrieial waders having the bill compressed, pointed, all the outlines nearly 

 -traight; the lores and orbits naked; the rest ot the head (except, sometimes, the malar 

 region, or part of the throat) feathered, the occiput, also lower foreneck, back, or scapu- 

 Lirs, frequently with ornamental plumes. Plumage generally handsome and variegated. 

 Two to three pairs of powder-down tracts. Other characters variable. 



The Herons are amono- the most widely diffused of birds, one 

 .species, the common Night Heron (Jri/cticorax ni/cticorax) being 

 nearly cosmopoUtan. Many of the Old World forms have not 

 been examined in the present connection, but there is good 

 reason for believing that the number of subfamilies here recog- 

 nized as represented iu America can be consistently increased. 



Ardeinae, Tail-feathers 12, more lengthened, and decidedly more stiff than the coverts: 

 outer toe a^ long as or decidedly longer than the inner; claws comparatr?«ly shoit 

 and strongly curved. 



Botanrinae. Tail-feathers 10. very short, scarcely more stiff than the coverts; outer toe de- 

 cidedly shorter than the inner; claws lengthened, sliehtly curved. 



yuBFAMiLY ARDEIN.ffi.— The Tbue Herons and Egrets. 



Analysis of Genera. 



Bill comparatively long and narrow, the eulmen longer than the tarsus, and eqnal to at 

 least live times the greatest depth of the bill; plumage of the young not conspicu- 

 ously different in pattern from that of the adult Ardea. 



Bill compaiatively short and thick, the culmen not loncer than the tarsns. and equal to 

 not more than four times the greatest depth of the bill; plumage of the young con- 

 spicuously different in pattern from that of the adult „ Jfyotiooraz, 



