HERONS AND BITTERNS 223 



Twenty-four specimens of this species have been recorded, of which 

 five are from Florida and sixteen from the vicinity of Toronto. It 

 resembles the Least Bittern in haunts and habits, but I know of no 

 description of its notes. Its rarity, sporadic distribution, and albinistic 

 tendencies, indicative of physical degeneration, suggest that it is a 

 decadent species on the verge of extinction. 



1896. CHAPMAN, F. M., Auk, XIII, 11-19 (historical). 1901. FLEMING, 

 J. H., Auk, XVIII, 106 (nesting); XIX, 77 (Toronto records). 



192. Ardea occidentalis And. GREAT WHITE HERON. Ads. Entirely 

 white; in breeding plumage, with long, narrow, stiffened feathers on the 

 back and lower foreiieck, and two narrow plumes on the back of the crown, 

 "L., 45-00-54-00; W., 17'00-21-00; B., 6'00-7'00; Tar., 8'00-8'75" (Ridgw.). 



Range. Region bordering Gulf of Mex. from s. Fla. s. to Cuba, Jamaica, 

 and Yucatan; casual n. to Anclote River and Micco, Fla. 



Nest, in small colonies, a platform of sticks usually in mangrove bushes. 

 Eggs, 3-4, pale, dull blue, 2'50 x T80. Date, Florida Keys, Jan. and Feb. 



I This is a common species on the coasts of southern Florida, par- 

 ticularly in the vicinity of Cape Sable. Rarely it is found as far north 

 as the Anclote River on the west coast and Micco on the east coast. 

 This bird is as large as the Great Blue Heron, and must not be con- 

 fused with Herodias egretta, to which the name Great White Heron is 

 frequently applied. 



Ardea wuerdmanni Baird has been considered to be a color phase 

 of this species, but its true standing is unknown. It may be described 

 as a Ward's Heron with a whitish head and neck, and is thus inter- 

 mediate between occidentalis and wardi. On March 27, 1908, on Clive 

 Key, southeast of Cape Sable, I found two young Ward's Herons and 

 one pure white bird in the same nest. One of the parents was Ardea 

 occidentalis, the identity of the other was not ascertained. 

 1905. JOB, H. K., Wild Wings, 27. 



194. Ardea herodias herodias Linn. GREAT BLUE HERON. Ads. in 

 breeding plumage. Center of crown and throat white, sides of crown black, 

 this color meeting on back of head, where the feathers are lengthened to 

 form an occipital crest; neck pale grayish brown, a narrow black, white, and 

 ochraceous line down the middle of the f oreneck ; feathers of lower foreneck 

 narrow and much lengthened, whitish with sometimes black streaks; back, 

 wing-coverts, and tail slaty gray, the scapulars paler, narrow and much 

 lengthened; bend of wing chestnut-rufous; a patch of black and white 

 feathers on side of breast ; breast and belly streaked with black and white and 

 sometimes pale rufous; feathers on legs dull rufous, legs and feet black, 

 upper mandible olive-yellow, the culmen blackish ; lower mandible yellow ; 

 lores blue. Im. Similar, but entire crown black, throat white, neck brown- 

 ish gray washed with buffy ochraceous; no black at sides of the breast or 

 plumes on the lower neck ; underparts streaked with black, slaty, white and 

 ochraceous; bend of wings and feathers on legs paler; back slaty grayish 

 brown without lengthened plumes. "L., 42'00-50'00; W., 17'90-19'85; 

 B., 4-30-6-25; Tar., 6-00-8W (Ridgw.). 



Range. W. Hemisphere. Breeds from se. B. C., cen. Alberta, cen. 

 Man., n. Ont., and Prince Edward Island s. to s. L. Calif., n. Tex., and S. 

 Atlantic States (except Fla.) ; winters from Ore., the Ohio Valley, and Middle 

 States s. to the West Indies, Panama, and Venezuela. 



