AHUEID.E - THE HERONS — DICIlRi iMANASSA. 



33 



Till! very great dilTerence in form Ijetweeii DemieyrMa and lliu iiriisunt gtniis may be more clearly 

 shown by the statement that while the bill and wing, as well as the general bulk, are nearly the 

 same in the two, Demiegretta has the tarsus about 2.75 instead of 5.80 inches long, the middle toe 

 2.11) instead of 2.80, and the bare portion of the tibia 1.20 insteail of :i.50 ! It will thus be seen 



D. ru/a. 



that the proportions are entirely different in the two forms. Tlie bill of Demiegretta is also very 

 much more obtuse than that of Diehromanassa. 



Demiegretta novm-hvllandiw (Lath.) is of more slender build than the type-species, and is scarcely 

 strictly congeneric ; but it is otherwise similar, especially in the character of the plumage. The 

 bill is more slender, approaching in form that of Hydranassa, but still different ; the legs are also 

 more elongated, but are decidedly less so than in the genus under consideration. 



Dichromanassa rufa. 



THE REDDISH EGRET; PEALE'S E6EET. 



a. Col oi-i'd phase, 

 L' Aigrette rousse, de la Louisiane, Buff. PI. Enl. 1777-1784, pi. 902 (adult). 

 Arcka rufa, BoDD. Tabl. P. E. 1783, 54 (based on PI. Enl. 902). — CouEs, Key, 1872, 268 ; Check 



List, 1873, no. 455. — Reichenow, .1. f. 0. 1877, 269. 

 Demiegretta rufa, B.ilKD, Birds N. Am. 1838, 662 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 483. 

 Dichroraanassa rufa, Rroow. Ball. U. S. Geol. & Geog. Surv. Terr. IV. no. 1, 1878, 236 (in te.xt). — 



CoUES, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 661. 

 Reddish Egret, Lath. Synop. HI. 178.5, 88 (iiuotes PI. Enl. 902). 

 Ardea rufescens, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 628, no. 33 (based on PI. Enl. 902). — AUD. Orn. Biog. HI. 



1835, 411 ; V. 1839, 604, pi. 256 ; Birds Am. VI. 1843, 139, pi. 371 (adult ; both phases). 

 Ardea cubensis, "Gundl. MSS." Lemb. Avcs de Cuba, 1850, 84, pi. 13, fig. 1 (young). 

 Ardea rufa, var. Pealei, Reichenow, J. f. O. 1877, 270. 



1i. ]Vhite phase. 

 Ardea Pealei, Bonap. Am. Lye. X. Y. II. 1826, 154. — Nrrr. Man. II. 1834, 49. 

 Demiegretta Pealei, Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 661 ; Cat. X. Am. B. 1859, no. 182. 



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