238 AVES: HERODIONES. XXXVI. 



variegated everywhere ; foreneck striped with buffy ; a dark patch 

 on each side of neck. L. 23 to 28. W. 12. T. 4J. B. 3. N. Am., 

 abundant. (Lat., freckled.) 

 oa. Size very small ; sexes unlike, the young unlike adult. (Ardetta Gray). 



729. B. exilis (Gmelin). LEAST BITTERN. $ chiefly glossy 

 greenish black above, brownish yellow below, neck, shoulders and 

 wings with chestnut ; a buffy area on wing coverts ; 9 with brown 

 instead of black. L. 14. W. 5. T. If. B. If. N. Am., in reedy 

 swamps. (Lat., slender). 



374. ARDEA Linnaeus. (Lat. heron.) 

 a. Bill shorter than tarsus. 

 b. Length more than 35 (in adult); tarsus not twice middle toe without 



claw. 



c. Color chiefly bluish ; head crested in breeding season; dorsal plumes 

 short. (Ardea.) 



730. A. herodias L. GREAT BLUE HERON. Grayish blue, 

 marked with black and white ; crown black with white centre ; 

 forehead white ; lower parts dusky, striped with white ; tibia and 

 edge of wing cinnamon brown. L. 42 to 50. W. 19. B. 6^-. Ts. 

 7. T. 7. 9 smaller. N. Am., generally common. (epcoSto?, 

 heron.) 



cc. Color white; no crest; back in breeding season with long plumes. 

 (Herodias Boie.) 



731. A. egretta Gmelin. GREAT WHITE EGRET. L. 40. 

 W. 17. B. 5. Ts. 6. Amer., chiefly S. (Fr., aigrette, a top- 

 knot.) 



bb. Length 20 to 32. 



d. Tarsus not nearly twice middle toe without claw. 

 e. Color pure white at all times ; plumes of breeding season very 

 long, recurved, with loose webs. ( Garzetta Kaup.) 



732. A. candidissima Gmelin. SNOWY EGRET. WHITE 

 "CRANE." L. 24. W. 12. B. 3. T. 4. Tropical America, N. 

 to N. Y., abundant. (Lat., very white.) 



ee. Color slaty blue, the head and neck maroon ; the young white, 

 and sometimes the adult nearly or quite white ; plumes slender, 

 with compact webs. (Florida Baird. ) 



733. A. caerulea L. LITTLE BLUE HERON. L. 24. W. 12. 

 T. 4. B. 3. Ts. 4. E. Am., N. to 111., common. 



dd. Tarsus twice as long as middle toe without claw. (Dichromanassa 

 Ridgway.) 



734. A. rufescens Gmelin. REDDISH EGRET. Slate color ; 

 head and neck cinnamon; young grayish. L. 30. W. 13. B. 4. 

 Ts. 5. Southern, N. to 111. (Lat., reddish.) 



aa. Bill not shorter than tarsus ; L. less than 30. 



/. Scapular plumes in <f straight, hair-like, reaching beyond tail; wing 

 more than 8. (Hydranassa Baird.) 



