fig GREAT WHITE HERON. 



The bill is nearly six inches in length, of a rich orange yellow, 

 tipt with black; irides a paler orange, pupil small, giving the 

 bird a sharp and piercing aspect; the legs are long, stout, and 

 of a black colour, as is the bare space of four inches above the 

 knee; the span of the foot measures upwards of six inches; the 

 inner edge of the middle claw is pectinated; the exterior and 

 middle toes are united at the base for about half an inch, by a 

 membrane. 



The articulations of the vertebrae are remarkably long; the 

 intestines measure upwards of eight feet, and are very narrow. 

 The male and female are alike in plumage; both, when of full 

 age, having the train equally long. 



