44 ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 



Blue phase. 

 Adult: Head and neck ricli purplish-maroon, with a glaucous cast, the feathers more chestnut 

 beneath the surface ; rest of the plumage uniform dark Ijluish-plumbeous, the plumes with a 

 glaucous cast, the maroon and plumbeous gradually blended. In hreeding season, bill ultramarine- 

 blue at the base, the end black ; lores and eyelids ultramarine-blue ; iris pale yellow ; tibia?, tarsi, 



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and toes black (ArDUBOx). In autiimi}, bill liglit jilunibeous on the basal half, tlie terminal half 

 black ; lores and eyelids very pale dull greenish ; iris sulphur yellow ; legs and feet uniform jiea- 

 green, darker at the joints. ^ Yuuik/ : Similar in color to the adult, but with less developed plumes, 

 or with none at all ; the head and neck nnjre plumbeous. 



Pied, or intermediate, phase. 



The plumage mixed white and plumbeous, in proportion varying with the individual, forniing 

 a series connecting unbrokenly the two extremes described aljove. 



Many specimens show an irregular admixture of lilue and white in the jdumage ; but seldom, 

 so far as we have observed, is there any of the maroon color, seen on the head and neck in the perfect 

 plumage ; these parts being, in particoloi-ed liirds, iisually tinged with a pearly-gray or bluish. The 

 comparative amount of tlie blue and white varies, of course, with the individual. A male from 

 Florida (No. 84591), apparently adult, though not in lull lnveding plumage, appears at first sight 

 to be entirely pure white, with the exception cjf tlie u.-.ual blue on the ends of the primaries. A 

 close inspection, however, shows that the feathers of the pileuiu and nape, as well as those of the 

 whole back and anterior lesser wing-coverts, are more or less strongly tinged, mostly henrath the 

 surface, with pale pearl-blue or glaucous ; this tinge, particularly on the dorsal region, partaking 

 of the character of minute, more or less densely-.spriidvled, dots. 



No. 60319, from Porto Rico, an adult with perfectly developed ]ilunies, is wliite, the pileuni, 

 nape, and back washed with pearl-blue, the long back-plumes deeper l.ilae, with the terminal 

 third or more white, finely and sparsely sprinkled with blue. Several of the slender occipital 

 plumes are maroon-puri]le. One of the secondaries, on each side, has the outer web nearly uniform 

 blue, and the inner web sprinkleil with the .same. 



No. 396.50, from the same locality, is pure white, with the long dorsal plumes ami many of the 

 feathers of the liack uniform dark plumbeous-blue, the head and neck piu']ilisli-blue, the throat 

 and foreneck white. There is scarcely a trace of blue on the ends of the primai'ies ; but as these 

 are much abraded terminally, it is probable that the spots of this C(dor are worn otf. 



No. 72892, Jacksonville, Florida, has the plumage pied blue and white, in irregular blotches 

 and patches, the two colors nearly equal in extent. 



No. 70687 Demerara, is UKjstly blue, with the throat and foreneck medially, some of the 

 jugular plumes, and a few of the wing coverts, white, the latter mostly finely spriid<led with bluish. 

 In this specimen the white of the throat is almost as abruptly defined and conspicuous as in adult 

 Hydranassa tricolor. 



' Fruia a fresh specimen, killed Aut,nist 6, near Washington, D. C. 



