12 



AMTJCIAL (lUALLATOUH.S- IIKHODIONES. 



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and no white young; but one of my dark spccinicus lias white feathers on the head 

 and in tiu> tail, while one of the seeoudary (juills has the outer weh ehiefly white. 

 My eonipauion of last winter's Florida trii) reports that he saw no Keddish Egrets 

 with white exeejjt on the secondaries. 



"Regarding the large Herons [i. e. A. Ifarill], I am much inclined to think them 

 a geographical variety . . . the siiecimens being very uniform in color. ... I exam- 

 ined some thirty nests at least, fifteen of which contained young, all being dark col- 

 ored, in'fk one e.vvfjttlini. 'riicsc birds are comnuui in Southwestern I''lori(hi, and their 

 nests are fre(pu'ntly found along the coast. From all the infornuition at my com- 

 mand, connected with my own observations, I am almost convinced that the bird in 

 (juestion is sei)arate and distinct from .1. orcidcntdlls and A. ff'iinfciinnni!, and the 

 fact that Audubon found the former in immense uund)e"s anumg the mangrove 

 islands of Eastern Florida is strong evidence that he happene.'. in the vicinity of one 

 of their rookeries. As you will observe l>y exaniining the diagram of my eam])ing- 

 phice, and noting the rookeries of large Herons, . . . these birds were ([uite common 

 in that vicinity ; whiles I saw only a few specimens of ./. iici'idriitdHs. The white 

 bird found in the nest with the blue might liavc come there from an adjoiinng emjit y 

 nest, some thirty or forty feet distant, as it could easily have done, being nearly full- 

 grown. This surmise is strengthened Ity the circumstance that 1 saw a large white 

 Heron on the islaml nmrked '*,' and my com])anion killed a similar, if not the same. 

 specimen on the large island marked '1',' which he threw away, supj)osing it to 

 be a common White Egret {_I/fro(liiis r;/)rffii'\. 'I'hesc I now believe to have been 

 A. orr!</riitiil!s ; the other [//. f(jfvftti'\ was then laying its eggs, while the description 

 of A. ocridcntdlls corresponds to my recollection of the bird he killed. At the time, 

 I was not familiar with the descri[)tion of A. orrli/rvfa/is. 



"In tlie Little Ulue Heron [I'londit nrnt/ca'] and Jieddish Egret [_Dichromniiasfin 

 rafd'}, where dichromatism appears to be an establisheil fact, ca<'h species presents 

 different pliascs and mixtures of both colors, esjx'cially the Little lUue, which shows 

 .almost every variety of curious markings of blue and white ; while in the Heddisli 

 Egret, one specumen shows white on the head, tail, and wings, ajid others reported by 

 Mr. Adams show white on th(> wings. 



" As before said, I believe the bird to be a geographical variation of A. hcrodiax, 

 residing pernmnently and breeding in South I"'lorida. I think that further searcli 

 and observation will develop more evidencH! concerning A. orrhlciitiilis and A. If'iin/i- 

 manni, which may result in confirming your theory of their being (uie and the same 

 species. You will pardon my opposing your opinion ; but my convictions are so 

 strong, that only the finding of white birds with blue young, and more cases of blue 

 parents with white young, or adults showing mixtures of both phases, would over- 

 come them." 



Assuming that tin; large white birds observed by Mr. W ard were really a wlute 

 phase of the dark-colored birds obtained by him, which were so numerous in the 

 locality, it certainly appears strange that so few of the former were seen. The case 

 of the Reddish Egret which he cites, affords, however, an exact parallel, and it is now 

 considered established beyond question that " I'eale's Egret" (Ardea J'ealeiyBoyAr., 

 — a pure white bird) is merely a white phase of this species. As to the comparative 

 rarity of these large white birds, in the locality where observed by Mr. Ward, mili- 

 tating against any theory of their specific identity with the dark-colored birds, it 

 should be remembered that in the case of nearly every dichromatic si)ecies of bird 

 this condition is more or less variable with locality. A pertinent example may be 

 cited in the case of Demiegretta sacra, a Heron of wide distribution in the Ear East. 



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