14 



ALTRICIAL GRALLATOllES — IIERODIONES. 



:il'r 



llilir: 



II. 1835, 87 ; V. 1839, 599, pi. 211 ; Syiiop. 1839, 205 ; H. Am. VI. 1843, 122, pi. 369. — Baiiih, 

 IJ. N. Am. 1858, (308; Cat. N. Am. U. 1859, no. 487. — ('ol-es, Koy, 1872, 207; Check l.i>t, 

 1873, no. 449 ; 2d eel. 1882, no. 655 ; Binls N. W. 1874, 517. — liiuow. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, 

 no. 487. 

 Ardea Undsonias, LiNX. S. N. I. 1766, 238. 



Had. Tlio whole of North ami Middle Aincrica, I'xcpptin^ Arctic districts; north to Ilud.son's 

 Bay, " Fur Couiitrie.'*," and Sitka ; south to New Uranada, Venezuela, and the Galapagos ; Bermu- 

 das, and throughout the West Indies. 



Sp. Char. Adult: Length, about 42.(M)-.')(».(K) ; e.\teiit, 72.00 ; weight, .') to 8 pounds. Fore- 

 head and central feathers of tlie crown pure white ; sides of crown and wliole of the occiput, 

 including the long plumes, blue-black. C'iiiu, throat, and malar region pure white. Ncrk 

 lavender-gray, fading gradually above into the white of cheeks and throat. Foreneck with a 

 narrow medial series of iilack and ferruginous dashes nii.xed witii white ; lower neck-plumes pule 

 lavender-gray. Lateral jugular tufts uniform blue-black ; breast and abdomen black, almost uni- 





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form laterally, but the middle feathers with broad medial .stripes of white. Crissum white, the 

 feathers sometimes edged witli rufous. Tibial feathei-s deep chestnut-rufous, not growing conspicu- 

 ously paler toward the body. Upper parts fine slate-blue, the dorsal and scapular plumes jjalcr, 

 more pearl-gray, — the lightness of the tint proportionate to the length of the plume ; remigcs 

 black, the inner .secondaries growing gradually more slaty, so that the innermost are scarcely 

 darker than the tertials. Tail deep slate-blue, a shade darker than the tertials. Entire bonier of 

 the wing, from the armpit to the metacarpo-phalangeal joint, rich purplish-rufous, scarcely mi.xed 

 anywhere with white, and nmch the widest at the bend. Bill olive above, the culmen blackisli ; 

 lower mandible wax-yellow, brighter terminally (sometimes wiiolly yellow) ; iris bright yelluiv ; 

 bare loral space cobalt-blue in spring, olive-greenish or yellowish after breeding season. Leys ami 

 feet dud-ii-hlack throughout. Youmj : Above slate-gray (less bluish than in the .idult), destitute of 

 any penicillate plumes ; anterior lesser wing-coverts bordered terminally with light rufous ; border 

 of the wing (broadly) white, more or less tinged with rufous, especially at and near the bend, 

 where this color prevails. Entire pileum, including all the occipital feathers, blackish-slate, with 

 a narrow median crest of more elongated darker-colored feathers, with pale fulvous shaft-streaks. 

 Cheeks dark grayish ; malar region, chin, and throat only, pure white. Neck dull gray, some- 

 times tinged with rufous, some of the feathers with itidistinctly lighter shaft-streaks ; forenei k 

 with a narrow longitudinal series of black, rufous, and whitish dashes, much as in the adult. 

 Breast and abdomen broadly striped Avith dark cinereous and white, in nearly equal amount 



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