RiDGWAY on an Apparently New Heron from Florida. 3 



of my camping place and noting the rookeries of large Herons 

 . . . . these birds were quite common in that vicinity, 

 while I saw only a few specimens of A. occidentalis. The 

 white bird found in the nest with the blue might have come there 

 from an adjoining empty nest, some 30 or 40 feet distant, as it 

 could easily have done, being nearly full-grown. This surmise 

 is strengthened by the circumstance that I saw a large white 

 Heron on the island marked ' *,' and my companion killed a 

 similar, if not the same, specimen on the large island marked 

 ' 3,' which he threw away. Supposing it to be a common White 

 Egret \_Herodias egretta~\. These I now believe to have been 

 A. occidentalis ; the other \^H. egretta'\ was then laying its- 

 eggs, while the description of A. occidentalis corresponds to 

 my recollection of the bird he killed. At the time, I was not 

 familiar with the description of A. occidentalis. 



" In the Little Blue Heron \_Florida ccertilea'] and Reddish 

 Egret (^DicJiromanassa rufa')., where dichromatism apjoears to 

 be an established fact, each species presents different phases and 

 mixtures of both colors, especially the Little Blue, which shows 

 almost every variety of curious markings of blue and white ; 

 while in the Reddish Egret, one specimen shows white on the 

 head, tail, and wings, and others reported by Mr. Adams show 

 white on the wings. 



"As before said, I believe the bird to be a geographical varia- 

 tion of ^. herodias., residing permanently and breeding in South 

 Florida. I think that further search and observation will develop 

 more evidence concerning A. occidoitalis and A. wilrde?na?tni., 

 which may result in confirming your theory of their being one 

 and the same species. You will pardon my opposing your opin- 

 ion, but my convictions are so strong that only the finding of 

 white birds with blue young and more cases of blue parents 

 with white young, or adults showing mixtures of both phases, 

 w^ould overcome them." 



Assuming that the large white birds obsei'ved by Mr. Ward 

 were really a white phase of the dark-colored birds obtained by 

 him, and which were so numerous in the locality, it certainly ap- 

 pears strange that so few of the former were seen. The case of 

 the Reddish Egret, which he cites, affords, however, an exact 

 parallel, and it is now considered established beyond question 

 that " Peale's Egret" (Ardea pealei Bonap. — a pure white bird) 



