GREAT HERON. 31 



head of Tuckahoe river, in Cape May county, New- 

 Jersey. In this case, the females could not be mistaken, 

 as some of the eggs were nearly ready for exclusion. 



Length of the great heron, four feet four inches 



from the point of the bill to the end of the tail ; and to 



the bottom of the feet, five feet four inches ; extent, 



six feet; bill, eight inches long, and one inch and a 



quarter in width, of a yellow colour, in some blackish 



on the ridge, extremely sharp at the point, the edges 



also sharp, and slightly serrated near the extremity ; 



space round the eye, from the nostril, a light purplish 



blue; irides, orange, brightening into yellow where 



they join the pupil ; forehead and middle of the crown, 



white, passing over the eye ; sides of the crown and 



hindhead, deep slate, or bluish black, and elegantly 



crested, the two long, tapering, black feathers, being 



full eight inches in length ; chin, cheeks, and sides of 



the head, white for several inches ; throat, white, thickly 



streaked with double rows of black ; rest of the neck, 



brownish ash, from the lower part of which shoot a 



great number of long, narrow pointed, white feathers, 



that spread over the breast, and reach nearly to the 



thighs ; under these long plumes, the breast itself, and 



middle of the belly, are of a deep blackish slate, the 



latter streaked with white ; sides, blue ash ; vent, 



white ; thighs and ridges of the wings, a dark purplish 



rust colour ; whole upper parts of the wings, tail, and 



body, a fine light ash, the latter ornamented with a 



profusion of long, narrow, white, tapering feathers, 



originating on the shoulders or upper part of the back, 



and falling gracefully over the wings ; primaries, very 



dark slate, nearly black ; naked thighs, brownish yellow ; 



legs, brownish black, tinctured with yellow, and netted 



with seams of whitish ; in some, the legs are nearly 



black. Little difference could be perceived between 



the plumage of the males and females ; the latter were 



rather less, and the long pointed plumes of the back 



were not quite so abundant. 



The young birds of the first year have the whole 

 upper part of the head of a dark slate ; want the long 



