AVES ARDEID/E. 381 



Herodias /euce, Salle, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 236. 



Herodias cgretta var. californica, Baird, Cass. & Lawr. B. N. Amcr. p. 



666(1858). 

 Herodias alba fence, Ridgw. Bull. Ess. Inst. 1874, p. 171. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



Si -Adult male. (P. U. O. C 4970; Panasoftkee Lake, Sumpter 

 County, Florida, 4 January, 1876, W. E. D. Scott) 

 Total length, 39.5 inches. 

 Wing, 1 6. 2. 

 Oilmen, 4.7. 

 Tail, 6.2. 

 Tarsus, 6.4. 



Fio. 20 1. 



Herodias egretta, adult male. 4970 Princeton University Collection. About ]/( natural size. 



The adult female is smaller than the adult male. 



Color. Adult male (cited). Entirely pure white. A series of long 

 scapular plumes composed of specially developed feathers having dis- 

 sociated webs, the whole forming together a lace-like train. No head 

 plumes and the feathers of the lower neck broad and soft and not length- 

 ened into pendant plumes. 



Bill : Rich gold yellow. Black or dusky along the culmen. Bare 

 region about eye, pale emerald green. 



Legs and feet : Black. 



Iris : Straw color. 



Adult female breeding. Not to be distinguished from the adult male 

 at the same season, except that the average individuals are smaller. 



Adults in winter. Have no ornamental train of plumes, the bare 



