ARDEID.E — TIIK HERONS — BUTORIDES. 



49 



species ilifFer quite as imich among tliumst'lves in certain respects. Ujiun the uhule, this genus 

 may be consiileveil one of the most strongly marked in the entire group. 



Leaving out B. plumbea,'^ of the Galapagos, of wliich we have seen only an immature examph>, 

 the three remaining American species of this geiuis may l)e ilistinguishcd as folh)\vs : — 



Com. Char. Neck unil'orm chestnut or ash-gray, with an anterior longituilinal series of 

 white and rufous stripes. Lanceolate feathere of the pileum glossy greenish l)lack ; wing-coverts 

 conspicuously bordered with rusty or whitish. Younrj witli the colors duller, and the pattern 

 indistinct. 



A. Neck chestnut or rufous. 



1. B. brunnesoens.- Head .and neck, except pileum, uniform chestnut-rufous; wing-coverts 

 very narrowly edged with rufous. Young : nearly uniform rusty brownish. Wing, 6.40- 



1 BuTOUiDEs I'LU.MBE.v (Sundcvall). 



Ardca idumbea, Sitxdev. P. Z. H. Feb. 7, 1S71, 125, 127 (.James I., Galapagos). 



BiUoridcs phimbcus, ScL. & S.VLV. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 125. — S.\lvin', Trans. Zool. See. IX. ix. 



1875, 497. 

 Anlea Smulfvalli, RElcnEXOW, J. f. 0. July, 1877, 253 (s. g. Buloridcs). 

 Young 9> trannition pi. (nearhj adult) : Whole pileum uniform greenish black, slightly glossy. Upper 

 parts in general dark brownish slate, tlio siNTjiuliU' plumes in certain lights appearing glauco\is with white 

 shafts, in other lights slightly metallic bottla-gri't-nish. Keniigps bluish pUmibeous, ilcuidcdly glaucous. 

 Wing-coverts (new feathers, adult plumage), (lark slaty, with bottle-green gloss, narrowly edged with 

 light laisty. Chin and throat white, sparsuly marked with dusky. Sides and fore part of the neck dusky, 

 like the nape, but tinged with purplish brown, the foreneck m.arked with longitudinal streaks of white 

 and light rusty. Remaining lower ]iarts uniform dark brownish slate. Lining of the wings dusky, nar- 

 rowly streaked with fulvous white. 



Wing, 6.90 ; tail, 2.70 ; nulincn, 2.50 ; depth of bill, through nostril, .50 ; tarsus, 1.95 ; ndddle toe, 

 1.75; bare part of tibia, .45. 



[Described from a specimen in Mus. Sai.vix & Godjun ; Indefatigable I., Galapagos, Aug. 25, 1868. 

 Length, 18.00 ; extent, 26.00. Iris orange yellow.] 



2 BuTORiDES BRUNNESCENS. The Brown Heron. 



Ardca brunncscois, "GuxnL. MSS." Lemd. Aves de Cuba, 1S50, 84, pi. 12. — Reichexow, 



J. f. 0. 1877, 255 (s. g. Butorides). 



Buloridi-s hrunnescms, Baiiid, Birds N. Am. 1858, 677 (in text); Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 494. 



Sl>. Char. Length, about 19.00-20.000; extent, 27.0; wing, 6.40-7.00; tail, 2.50-3.00; culmen, 



2.20-2.75 ; depth of bill, .45 ; tarsus, 1.85-2.30 ; middle toe, 1.70 ; bare portion of tibia, .50. Adult: 



"The top of the head and loug glossy occipital feathers are dark glossy green ; the scapulars and inter- 



B, lirunncscens, juv. 



scapulars pale gi-een, washed with bluish gra\', having light gray .shafts ; the wing-coverts very narrowly 

 edged with rufous ; the entire neck and long feathers extending over the breast bright brownish ehcstimt, 

 paler on the chin ; abdomen dark plumbeous a.sh, tinged with rufous on the sides. The wing measures 



VOL. I. 7 



