fl 



38 



Al.ilMCIAI, (iK.VI.I.ATHKKS IIKKODIUXKH. 



■ 





ilitliTfiit HpfcioM, will f 1 iiiiii'tly lu-ar i<w iiiiotluT ; hut let anotlu'r uppiDiuli, iiiitl 



iM'forc it is within a hiiiidri'tl viiids it will Iw at ouct- pursued, and tin- attempt nuulc 

 to drivi" it awa.v ; and the pul•^>ni•l and puisiied will always lie ol tiic sann- H[«'fi('s. 



hut if the approai-liiuK l>iiil i« <>• ii spi'fit-s liitTenMit from any of tlnwe f linj,', it may 



descend anmnj,' them withonl iieinj,' distiiri>e(i. In this petulance to one of its own 

 species a Meion never niaki's any mistake. Kven the small lllue llenm, whosj; youn>; 

 are for a year as white as tin- White Hnwt, never mistakes the latter for on« of its 

 own kind. It is this hahit of attacking only hirds of its own species that lirst led 

 .Mr. Moore to re^'ard the ni/n and the /*/■(//// as identical ; lor the purple (ha.se the 

 wiiite, and the white pursue the purple, ixit they never tease any other species. 



ThPHu birds use thi'ir le^'s and toes to scrape tin zy hottom, (tr amcuig the 



plants, in (U'der to luicover thi'ir hidden jirey. It is a nuide peculiar to this speeie.s, 

 and not to 1m' mistaken for that of any other; hut hoth of the two varietie.s pcr- 

 f(U'm this a<t in the same manner, and their unity of action in other respeets is said 

 to Ik* very conspicuous. No other Heron is so awkward, im|)etiums, and clumsy a 

 tisher. In clear water it ^ives chase to its ]Ufy with expanded winj,'s, which are Hirted 

 up and tlowii, or are held open, as it r\ins or ho]is. souictiiiies out (d' the water, sonu'- 

 times turning entirely rotind. In all the.se wild and awkward niovenu'uts tlu' two 

 forms exactly imitate e.ich other. In si/e. ton, they arc exactly the sanu-. .\s cha.sers 

 the two forms an* not only alike, Imt are superior to all others of the family. They 

 pursue their prey — which is alnuwt exclusividy fishes — by ha.sty steps, hops, and 

 (louhIin>,'.s. In.stead of \m\m shy and suspicious, as Auduhon .states, they are, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Moore, almost as unsusiiicious as the (ireen Heron. This bird breeds 

 in eomj)any both with its own ami with other s[)ecies. su(di as ri/nffn, iiiii</!(l!ssii)iii, 

 fiuiorlrlinid, n'irsrrn.i. etc. If. when wounded, it falls into the water, it ean swim 

 readily. So far as Mr. .Moore's experience goes, the proportion in numbers of the 

 white to the blue is as one to eight. 



Two eggs of this spt'cie.s, obtained by Mr. .\udubon in IS.'Jli on the Florida Keys, 

 are of a rounded oval sliaiie, are larger than the eggs of the I'cuh-'i, and the shell 

 is thicker and rougher. They have the uniform greenish-blue shading eomnion to 

 the eggs of all our true Herons. — a washing of Prussian blue with a slight tinge of 

 green. One (No. 9.S) measures LM4 inches in length, by l.Oo inches in breadth. The 

 other (784) measures li.L'O inches by l.(>(). 



Gkms HYDRANASSA, Baird. 



< " Demirgretta" (not- Blytii), BAnut, B. N. Ain. 1858, 660 (part). 



= /[iidraiKisim, Bmisi", B. N. Am. 18.">8, 660, in text. Tvin', .trdin htdoviciana, Wil.s.,=.4. tricolor, 



Miillcr. 

 <Erndinii, Beiciiesow, J. f. 0. 1877, 268 (iiiclndf.s Dkhromnnansn, Lrptcrodiics, Hcrodiua, nnd 



GarzctUi). 



Gen. Char. Small Herons of variogatcd colors, white liencnth, phunboous above, the bill 

 equal to or longer timii the tarsus, and very slender. Bill long and slender, but little compre8.sed ; 

 the upper and lower outlines appreciably concave about the middle, the gonys almost straight and 

 but slightly ascending, the cuhnen gently convex towards the end. Mental apex reaching less 

 than one thinl the distance from the middle of the eye to the point of the bill, but, at the same 

 time, about as far forward as the anterior end of the nostril ; malar apex reaching about as far for- 

 ward as the frontal feathers. Tarsus long, about e(pial to the bill ; middle toe about two thinls 

 the length of the tarsus, the hallux about half a.s long as the latter ; bare portion of the tibia 

 decidedly shorter than the middle toe. Adnlt, with feathei-s of the neck, except throat, distinctly 



Ifiilill 



