128 HERONS AND BITTERNS. 



188. Tantalus loculator Linn. WOOD 1m*. AJ Head and neck 



bare ; primaries, secondaries, arid tail glossy greenish black, rest of plumage 

 white. Im. Head more or less feathered ; head and neck grayish brown, , 

 blacker on the nape ; rest of plumage as in the adult, but more or less marked 

 with grayish; wings and tail less greenish. L., 40-00; W., 18-00; Tar., 7-60; 

 B. from N., 8-00. 



Range. Tropical and subtropical America ; breeds in the Gulf States, and, 

 after the breeding season, wanders irregularly northward, sometimes reaching 

 Kansas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. 



Washington, A. V., two specimens. Long Island, A. V. 



_iV*2, a platform of sticks in trees. Eggs, two to three, dull white with a 

 soft calcareous deposit, 275 x 1-75. 



This is a locally common species in Florida. 



FAMILY ARDEID.E. HERONS AND BITTERNS. 



This family contains about seventy-five species distributed in most 

 parts of the globe, but more numerously in the intertropical regions. 

 Generally speaking, Herons are gregarious, nesting and roosting in 

 flocks. While feeding they are more solitary, but each night they 

 regularly return to roost with their kind in a " rookery." Bitterns do 

 not associate in flocks, and are generally found singly or in pairs. As 

 a rule, they feed in grassy marshes, while Herons more commonly 

 resort to the shores of lakes, rivers, bays, or salt-water lagoons. Some 

 species secure their food of frogs, fish, small reptiles, etc., by standing 

 rigidly motionless and waiting for it to come within striking distance, 

 or by wading for it with the utmost caution. Others run rapidly and 

 noisily through the water, trusting to their agility and the rapidity of 

 their spearlike thrusts to supply their wants. Herons, unlike our 

 Ibises and Cranes, fly with their folded neck drawn in between their 

 shoulders. Their voice is a hoarse squawk. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



I. Wing over 13-00. 



A. Plumage pure white. 



a. Wing 17-00 or over; feathers on the lower neck long, narrow. 



192. GREAT WHITE HERON. 



b. Wing under 17-00 ; neck-feathers not lengthened . 196. AM. EGRET. 

 . Upper parts generally slaty or grayish blue. 



193. WARD'S HERON. 194. GREAT BLUE HERON. 

 II. Wing under 13-00. 

 1. Crown without streaks. 

 A. Crown white or whitish. 

 a. Wing over 11-00. 



</>. Plumage entirely or mostly white . . . 198. REDDISH EGRKT. 



ofl. Plumage gray streaked with black ; throat and sides of neck 



black 203. YELLOW-CROWNKD NIGHT HERON. 



