44 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 12 
type being an almost adult male taken August 26, 1894. It is similar to the 
mainland bird, but smaller, and the desecriber says that in addition to the type 
locality, it probably occurs on Santa Cruz, San Nicolas, Anacapa and Catalina. 
Now I am very familiar with the Coronados Islands, having lived on them for 
as long as two months at a time, and I am morally certain that no herons breed 
there. Besides, I have seen one as far as five miles from the islands, flying to- 
wards the mainland. In addition, G. Willett (JS) says that he has seen them 
in flight between Anacapa and the mainland. If they fly back and forth from 
these two islands, it is reasonable to suppose that they do the same from the oth- 
ers, and if this is the case it is hard to believe that an island subspecies exists. 
I have before me two Great Blue Herons from the islands, one from the col- 
lection of A. van Rossem, shot by him on San Clemente, September 30, 1908, the 
other, from my own collection, taken on Catalina by H. Wright, May 25, 1908. 
Although they are both males, and, as far as I ean tell, near the age of Mr. Ober- 
holser’s type, I can see no difference to warrant separation of the island bird. 
Following are the average measurements of the eleven specimens of A. h. hyper- 
onca from the Pacific slope of California as given by Mr. Oberholser in his orig- 
inal description of that subspecies, his measurements of the type of oligista, and 
the average of my two island specimens. 
Wing Tail Culmen Tarsus Toe! 
ial ARS 105 WWE oro coe oo ado DOO BO OeS 485.7 184.7 142.7 180.5 107.2 
EVDO weA a ciiee OUGISEE reat bietoies ett ie 433 187 149 184 101 
Py iikGhokss qakoyonl WMI ERNGESS 35 og oncom oo no.ptS 492 182.5 148.7 182.3 113 
 iMiddle toe without claw. 
Some allowance should of course be made for two different people taking 
measurements, but even with a generous margin to allow for variation in this, it 
will be seen that my two birds have even longer wings and middle toes than the 
mainland ones, while the shortness of these two members was the chief claim to 
subspecifie rank of the type of oligista. 
C. B. Linton (MS) saw several Great Blue Herons at San Nicolas during 
January, 1911, and I have seen an occasional individual at Catalina at different 
times of the year. H. Wright (9) records one at Anacapa, July 5, 1912, and A. 
van Rossem and I saw a number at Santa Cruz in April, 1911. 
In the vicinity of the islands these birds spend most of their time perched 
on the kelp beds waiting for fish. The kelp sinks under them to a certain ex- 
tent, and they appear as if their legs were but half the length that they really 
are. Those that breed upon the islands build their nests in niches of the cliffs. 
1. Butorides virescens anthonyi (Mearns) 
ANTHONY GREEN HERON 
Butorides virescens anthonyi (1) Oberholser, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xxii, 1912, p. 548. 
H. C. Oberholser (MS) informs me that his record for this bird on the Cor- 
onados (1) is based on a specimen taken in that locality by A. W. Anthony, May 
11, 1885. ©. B. Linton (WS) tells me that he also secured a bird on Santa Cruz 
Island. 
