:-r^p_- 



l>«p< 



"P»W 



408 



ALECT0KIDE8. 



Grus/usca (|jurt), ViKlLL. Nouv. Diet. XIII. 1817, 558 (= " Ardea canadensis, Lath.," aud refers 



to both l'o|•|ll^). 



Olnis canatli iisix (ncc Tkm.m. ex Linn.), Nirr. Man. II. 1834, 38. — Uaiud, U. N. Am. ISns, 0.15 ; 



Cut. N. Am. H. 18,'.ii, no. 479. — CouE.s, Key, 1»7'2, 271 ; C'lMM.k List, 1873, no. 4C3 ; liinis N. 



W. 1874, 532. — KiD(i\v. Xoin. X. Am. B. 188), no. 583. 

 Orus avHi-iiana (siiii|m)m'i1 younjj), Auo. Orn. biog. III. 1835, 441, pi. 261|; Synoi). 1839, 219 ; 



1!. Am. V. 1842, 188, i.l. 314. 



IIau. TIiu true G. mnadensig, Arctic and Subarctic America, nii^ratin^ wouth in winter. 

 Hri'iils in Alaska to tin- coait at St. Micliacr.-i, in tlic .Mackcn/ic Hivcr district, alung the wliole of 

 the Arctic coa.sl, and otlier parts of the hif,'li nortli, where entirely replacing' the larj^er G, mt-cicuua. 

 The latter, snutliern half (if North America in general, e.xceptin;,' the Atlantic seaboard north nl 

 Florida (ami the extreme north ?) ; Cuba ; Mexico. Formerly found throughout the east also. 



Sp. C'h.vh. Adult: Entire ]>ileum. including' lores, covered with a bare, granulated skin (red- 

 dish in life), interspei'sed with scattered fine blackish hairs ; the posterior margin of this bare skin 



divided medially, on the occi])Ut, by an angular projection of the feathers on the upper luirt of tlji- 

 nai)e. General color of the plumage continuous and nearly uniform plumbeous-gray, this fit- 

 quently stained or overLiin in places by a rusty wash, the primaries slate-colored, with wliitisli 

 shafts. Cheeks and throat sometimes distinctly whitish. Legs and feet blackish ; bill blackish, 

 paler at tip ; iris crimson ( YmuKj: Head entii'ely feathered. Plumage much as in the adult, but 

 of a lighter and more brownish gray, and always conspicuously stained, especially on upper parts, 

 with tawny cinnamon or ferruginous. 



II canadensis. 



Wing, I7.r)(»-19.00 inches ; culmen, 2.W-X70 ; tarsus, «.7(>-8.00 : middle toe, 2.80-2.95. 



/3. mexicana. 

 Wing, 2().tK)-22.()0 inches ; culmen, 5.0()-6.(K) ; tarsus, 1().0() ; middle toe. 3.50-4.10. 



In this species there is a vast amount of individ\ud variation in both proportions and colors. 

 especially the former, scarcely two specimens being apiu'oxiniately alike in all their measurements. 

 As to cold's, the cheeks and throat are usually grayish or light ash-gray ; but sometimes they are 

 distinctly white, in very marked contrast to the jjlunibeous-gray of the nape — a ])eculiarity we are 

 inclined to ascribe to probable greater maturity of the individual. Besides this variation, the 

 plumage is freciuently almo.st entirely devoid of any ru.sty stain, while again it is very highly tinged 

 with that color. 



The shape of the hill also varies greatly, as does also the appearance of the naked part of the 

 head ; the latter is sometimes roughly granulated or almost papillose, with few hairs (as in N". 

 8914, Nebraska, in which it is also scarcely divided by the occipital featheis), while again (as in 

 No. 13440, Utah) it is densely covered, especially on the lores, with black hairs, while the occipital 

 feathers form a deep angle projecting far into the naked skin of the crown. 



Although we h.-ive as yet not been able to find specimens which were not positively the one form 

 or the other, we consider it very ]iiobable that the two races distinguished above as canadensis and 

 nuxicana will yet be found to intergrade, since we have been wholly unable to discover any 



