24 



ALTllICIAL UKALI.ATOlUvS- IlKUODIONES. 



U.r.xfin.,ff,rrtt„, v«r. r„/./..nt.>-., H.MI.1.. I». N. Am. 1858, 667 ; Cat. N. An.. D. 1850, no. 486a. 

 Ar<l.iilnirf, " Ii.I.mikh." I.l'in. \ .r/. DoiiU. ISW, no. 7U3. 

 Anlia nihil, m\n\wi: gulaltn, KririiKNow, J. f. <>. 1877, 'il'L 



IlAii Tlic whole of t.-nipfnitc uiul tn.pi.al Ani.-iini, from Novn Seotin, CiiniMla Wwt, Minnc 

 »<)t«, (UkI On'K'on, to Chili .m.l I'alaK'oniii ; tliiouKlioiit thu Went liidicH. 



S|. ('ii.\R. b-.Kth, al.out :«7.(H^-:«!MHH .•.xfi.l, uhout 5.-..(H>-57.(K) ; wing. 14.10-10.80; tnil, 



6.«M>-7.:iO ; culm 4.2(M.!H) ; .l.-pth of ImH, .70-.mo ; Uww, n..')(M!.H(» ; iiii.l.ll.> tor, .3.Ii(M.:iO ; 



mk.'.l imrlion of til.irt, WM^.M ; weiKht, ulnMit i] H.^. Color .'i.tirrly ,.iir.' uhlt.' at all H'.w.onR 

 anil at all a;,'cH. Kill an.l lort's ri.h iliroiii.' yellow (the latter HoimlimcH tiiiKC'l with li«ht K'reen), 

 the .•iilmeii ucually l.la.k near the tip, MometimeK nearly the eiiliro maxilla black ; iris miples- 

 ycllow ; le>,'s ami feet onlinly <leep hiaek. 



HoviiiK (.pccimcns Infore w* fnuii all parts of its raiine, wo are unable to tlotcct in this upcciei 

 any variations of a geo^fraphical nature. The chief ilillerence between imlividuals consists in the 





'r 



1 i 



i 



amount of black on the maxilla, this bcin*; sometimes almost nil, while attain the maxilla may be 

 entirely black. Thui this variation has no relation to season is shown by the fact that in a consid- 

 eral)le series shot from one "rookery" in Florid s, and all liearin^,' thu nuptial train, the extremes 

 ore presented by different individuals, others beiujj varioufly intermediate. 



The Amerioui Ejjret may l»e easily enou>,'h distiiiyuished from tliat of Europe (//. alba) by its 

 smaller size, jet-bluck instead of pale llesli-colored lo},'s, bri{,'hter yellow bill, etc. ; but I have thus 

 far been unsuccessful in my search for characters which will serve always to distinjjuish the 

 Australian Eyret from //. tijretta. Australian specimens a},'ree with the latter in black le(,'s and 

 feet (thoujjh the tibiic are said to be pale dull yellow), yellow bill, and .smaller size. A single 

 specimen in nuptial plumage has the train short, like II. nlba ; but a Florida example o{ H. egretta 

 differs in no respect whatever, that I can see, except measurements ; and in this respect the dis- 

 crejmncy is much less than between examples of //. egretta shot at the same time in the same 

 locjility I Following are the measurements of the two specimens in cj^uestioii : — 



^o. 7^567, If. si/rmatoplwrus, 14.50 4.50 6.25 3.05 New South Wales. 

 No. 73524, /r. cyrcWa, 15.50 4.50 6.00 3.85 Florida. 



It is possible, however, that a larger series of H. syrmatophorxis than the one which I have been 

 able to examine might show differences which have as yet escaped my notice. 



The Great White Egret of America lias an extended distribution, breeding through- 

 out North America as far as New Jersey, on the Atlantic coast, in the interior as far 

 north as Southern Illinois, and throughout South America, almost to Patagonia. It 

 is a great wanderer, and stragglers have been met with from the Straits of Magellan 

 to Nova Scotia, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, where it is found as far to the 

 north as the Columbia River, and probably beyond. In midsummer it wanders to 



