GREAT BLUE HERON 



neck is at first held more outstretched. The 

 head and neck are well feathered and the 

 head usually crested. Elongated plumes, 

 sometimes of great beauty, are borne on cer- 

 tain parts of the body of some species, in 

 some cases during the breeding season only. 

 The " aigrettes" of the millinery trade are 

 the best known examples of these plumes, 

 and the demand for them has threatened with 

 extinction the species unfortunate enough to 

 produce these beautiful decorations. Their 

 importation and sale are now forbidden in 

 the United States. Herons frequent marshes 

 and inland waters; to a less extent also the 

 sea coast, feeding on small fishes and aquatic 

 animals. Most of them, except the bitterns 

 which are terrestrial and solitary, habitually 

 perch on and nest in trees, often in colonies. 

 They occur in all but the coldest parts of the 

 world. The boatbills (genus CoMearius] 

 differing from the other herons in the wide 

 bill resembling an inverted boat, are some- 

 times made a separate family. 



i. Ardea herodias herodias Linnaeus 

 Great Blue Heron. "Grullo" 



Ardea herodias lessonii STONE, Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci., 1918, p. 246. 



Length, about 1168 mm. (46.00 in.); tail 

 about 190 mm. (7.50 in.). 



Sexes alike. Adults. Center of crown and 

 throat white, rest of crown black; neck pale 

 grayish brown, a narrow line of mixed black, 

 82 



