254 ^^^^' '''^' '^^^^ WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 



White phase : Entire plumage white : bill black on the terminal third : balance flesh color ; 

 legs greenish. 



Length, 29: Wing, 14: Tail, 4; Tarsus, 5.30; Bill, 3.90. 





(White phase.) 



For a long time the white phase of this species was considered to be 

 distinct and was known as Peal's Egret. There can be no doubt as to its 

 merely being a different phase of plumage and not a distinct species, as the 

 young birds, both white and colored, have been taken from the same nest. 



It usually breeds in Florida, the nest being built on the lower branches 

 of a mangrove tree close to the water. I found this bird breeding in the 

 Bahama Islands, and on June 25, 1879, took a white and a gray bird from 

 the same nest, neither of them being old enough to fly. 



The eggs are usually from 3 to 4 in number, being pale blue in color 



Subgenus HYDRANASSA Baird. 



ARDEA TRICOLOR RUFICOLLIS {Gosse). 

 Louisiana Heron. 



Adult male in breeding plumage : Terminal third of bill black, balance blue : lores Ijlue in 

 winter : bill black, yellowish at liase : general plumage slaty blue : crest streaked reddish purple, 



