ARDETTA 1NVOLUCRIS. 101 



320. BUTOBIDES CYANURUS (VieilL). 

 (LITTLE BLUE HERON.) 



Butorides cyanurus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 125 ; iid. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 145 

 (Buenos Ay res) j Durnford, Ibis, 1878, p. 62 (Buenos Ayres) ; Barrows, 

 Auk, 1884, p. 271 (Entrerios). Butorides striata, Baird, Brew,, et Ridgw. 

 Water-B. N. A. i. p. 50. 



Description. Glaucous grey ; beneath ashy ; crown crested, black, with 

 greenish gloss ; neck beneath with a band of ferruginous spots, more or less 

 mixed with black ; wings greenish cinereous ; wing-coverts edged with whitish ; 

 bill dusky green, feet ashy yellowish: whole length 14-0 inches, wing 6'5 f 

 tail 2'5. Female similar. 



Hab. South America. 



The Little Blue Heron, though widely distributed, is not anywhere a 

 common bird. I have always seen them singly, for it loves a hermit- 

 life, and the feeding-ground it prefers is a spot on the borders of a 

 marshy stream shut in and overshadowed on all sides by trees and 

 tall rushes. There the bird sits silent and solitary on a projecting 

 root or dead branch ; or stands motionless and knee-deep in the 

 water, intent on the small fry it feeds on. For whole months it will be 

 found every day in the same place. When intruded on in its haunt it 

 erects the feathers of its head and neck, looking strangely alarmed 

 or angry, and flies away uttering a powerful harsh grating cry. 



Its nesting-habits I do not know; but Mr. Barrows says that it 

 undoubtedly breeds near Concepcion on the Lower Uruguay, where it is 

 abundant in spring and summer. 



321. ARDETTA INVOLUCBIS (VieilL). 



(VARIEGATED HERON.) 



[PLATE XVII.] 



Ardetta involucris, Scl et Salv. Nomencl. p. 125; iid. P. Z. S. 1869, p. 634; 

 Hudson, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 624 (Buenos Ayres) ; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 189, 

 et 1878, p. 62 (Buenos Ayres) ; Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 159 (Buenos Ayres) ; 

 Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 271 (Entrerios). 



Description. Above pale fulvous ; narrow stripe on the nape black ; front, 

 stripe on the back of the neck, bend of wing, and outer secondaries chestnut- 

 red ; back striped with black ; wing-feathers dark cinereous with red tips : 

 beneath paler, nearly white on the belly ; neck, breast, and flanks with brown 

 stripes, darker in the centres ; bill yellow ; feet brown : whole length 13'0 

 inches, wing 5-0, tail 1*5. 



Hab. Paraguay and Argentina. 



