408 GREAT WHITE HERON. 



later. The flight of this fine Heron, resembles that of the Great Blue, being regular, with 

 each flapping of the wings, greatly prolonged. They breed on the Keys and, I think, al- 

 ways prefer high trees. 



ABDEA OCCIDENTALIS. 



Great White Heron. 

 Ardea occidentalis AUD., Orn. Biog, 111; 1H35, 542.' 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, robust. Size, large. Tongue, long, slender, and tapering gradually to tip which is pointed. Head 

 and breast, provided with long, lanceolate plumes. Lower half of tibia, naked. 



COLOR. Adult. Pure snowy white throughout. Bill and iris, yellow. Feet and naked space in front of eyes, green- 

 ish. Voung. Similar to the adult but lacks the plumes and the bill is dusky at tip. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Readily known by the large size and pure white color as described. Constantly resident on the Florida Keys. Rare 

 on the mainland as far north as Lake George. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from Florida. Length, 47'50; stretch, 72 P 50: wing, 18'50; tail, 6'50; bill, 6'50; tar- 

 sus, 7-50. Longest specimen, 50'00; greatest extent of wing, 75-00; longest wing, 19-50: tail, 7 00; bill, 7'00; tarsus, 8'00. 

 Shortest specimen, 45'00; smallest extent of wing, 70-00: shortest wing, 17-00; tail, 6'00; bill, 6'00; tarsus, 7'00. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND BUGS. 



Nests, placed in trees, composed of sticks loosely arranged. Eygs, two or three in number, rather elliptical in form, 

 light bluish-green in color, unspotted. Dimensions from I'80x2'40 to 1 '85x2-45. 



HABITS. 



The Florida Keys are composed of two distinct kinds of islands; the outer, which are 

 formed on the tops of coral reefs, and the inner, which have grown up merely through the 

 agency of the mangroves, as described on previous pages. These latter are very low, be- 

 ing frequently inundated, and are surrounded by muddy flats, through which there are 

 winding canals to a belt of deep water, which nearly always surrounds the islet.. These 

 islands occupy a triangular section, the base of which extends from about five miles to the 

 westward of Cape Florida, quite to Cape Sable, twenty-five miles away, while the apex is 

 at Indian Key, about the same distance to the southward. These keys are often close 

 together and it has been alleged that it is impossible to pass among them, but there are 

 passages completely through; and although there are not a dozen men living, who know 

 the intricate channels from Biscayne to the Gulf of Mexico, I was fortunate enough to se- 

 cure one of these, and he took out little vessel safely through. We found many large cir- 

 cular lagoons, often five or six miles in diameter, among these keys, but they were crossed 

 and recrossed by old reefs, so that navigation was very dangerous; and then it was exceed- 

 ingly difficult to find the natural canals which connecetd one of these solitary sheets of wa- 

 ter, which are seldom enlivened by the presence of even a canoe, with another; and they 

 were so narrow, that our sails often brushed the mangroves on either side, as we wound 

 our way along. 



We were just emerging from one of these passages, into a large expanse of water, 

 when I observed two Great White Herons standing on the tops of some mangroves near, 

 and by promptly raising my gun which lay near, managed to secure one of the birds, be- 

 fore it left its perch, and the other, just as it rose. These proved, however, to be young, 

 but were fully grown. From this point, into the Gulf, we found these birds common but 



