EIDGWAY ON AMERICAN HEEODIONES. 229 



nostrils) 1.15; naked portion of tibia 5.50 ; tarsus 8.00; middle toe 4.80. 

 [Type, No. 8690, South Florida.] 



Young. — Similar to young of A. herodias, but lesser wing-coverts 

 widely tipped with bright ferruginous, producing thereby a conspicuous 

 spotting of this color; all the lower wing-coverts, large and small, with 

 a large, terminal, wedge shaped spot of white. Forehead and crown 

 dusky slate-color; most of the feathers with whitish shafts; occipital 

 plumes all whitish at the base, only the ends being dusky. 



That the specimen described above as the young of A. '■^ wiirdemannP^ 

 really belongs to that species, there is no reasonable cause to doubt. 

 Although a very young bird, with the downy filaments still adhering to 

 the tips of all the feathers of the crown, and with the remiges only half 

 grown out, it is much larger than any specimens of A. herodias of corre- 

 sponding age that 1 have seen, the culmen measuring 5.15, the tibia 5.00, 

 the tarsus 7.80, and the middle toe 4.60. The plumage affords even more 

 satisfactory evidence: In the young of A. lierodias, the dusky of the crowu 

 includes the entire upper half of the head, the occiput being wholly black- 

 ish and the cheeks slaty ; in the specimen under consideration the cheeks 

 are entirely white, like the throat, and the occipital feathers white, tipped 

 with dusky, thus restricting the continuous dusky to the forehead and 

 crown. The conspicuous white spots on the wing-coverts agree with the 

 similar but smaller markings seen in the adult of A. wurdemanni. but 

 which are wanting in all ages and stages of A. lierodias. 



Observations. — The above synonymy and description of ''''Ardea occi- 

 dentalism^ may appear to some unwarranted ; but that the step has been 

 taken only after the most careful investigation and mature deliberation, 

 will w-e think become evident upon perusal of the following explanatory 

 remarks: — 



Eemarkable as the case may seem, it is generally conceded, I believe, 

 that the white-plumaged bird known as Peale's Egret {Ardea pealei 

 Bonap.) and the bluish- and reddish-colored bird called the Eeddish Egret 

 {Ardea rufa Bodd.) are one and the same species ; and, furthermore, 

 that these widely different phases of plumage of the same bird do not 

 depend in the least upon age, sex, nor season, but that each is char- 

 acteristic of an individual through life. In order to place before the 

 reader the main facts of the case, wg transcribe in full a comprehensive 

 review of the subject, by Dr. T. M. Brewer, published some three years 

 since in the American Sportsman.* 



" If to any one the above question may seem absurd, I refer all such 

 to the facts given below. While I cannot, from my own experience, 

 confirm their correctness, I believe implicitly in the indorsing of my in- 

 formant. They seem to point to the only satisfactory explanation of 

 one of the most remarkable anomalies in one of our North American 

 species on record. 



*"Are Peale's Egret Heron and the Reddish Egret identical species?" <^American 

 Sportsman (West Meriden, Conn.), Feb. 6, 1875, 294. 



