EIDGWAY ON AMEBIC AN HEEODIONES. 245 



Ardca secnnda, Tetr. Antill. ii. , 273, t. 246 (fide Linn. ; Gmel.). 



Ardea cocoi, Linn. S. N. i. 1766, 237.— Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, G29.— Lath. lud. Orn. 1791, 

 699. — Less. Traits, i. 1831, 576 (Cayenne; Guadeloupe). — Bonap. Consp. ii. 

 1850, 110 (Cayenne ; Brazil ; Paraguay ; Patagonia). — Burm. Th. Bras. iii. 1856, 



415; La Plata Eeise, ii. , 508.— Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1866, 199 (Upper and 



Lower Ucayali) ; iv. 1869, 634 (Concbitas, Bueoos Ayres) ; 1873, 305 (Ucayali, 

 Huallaga, and Pebas, E. Peru) ; 1866, 199 ; 1867, 979 ; Nom. Neotr. 1873, 125 

 (whole of South America). — Gray, Handlist, iii. 1871, 27, n. 10103 (Brazil). — 

 BoucARD, Catal. Avium, 1876, 49, n. 1372 (Brazil).— Allen, Bull. Essex, Inst. 

 1876, 82 (Santarem, Brazil). 



Ardea fuscicolUs, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. xiv. 1817, 410 (Paraguay ; = juv. .'). 



Ardsa soco, Vieill. t. c. 423 {ex Lath.). 



f Ardea major, Frazer, P. Z. S. 1843, 116 (S. Chile). 



Hab. — South America in general, from Patagonia to Cayenne. Not 

 recorded from the Pacific slope north of Chile (?). 



Adult. — Entire pileum, from bill to occiput, including the postocular 

 region, as well as the long occipital plumes, deep blue-black ; rest of the 

 head and whole neck pure white, the foreneck with a narrow longitudinal 

 series of blue-black dashes. Upper surface pearl-gray, gradually fading 

 into white on the lower wing-coverts ; penicillate tips of the dorsal and 

 scapular plumes also white ; remiges bluish-slate ; rectrices pearl-gray. 

 Breast and abdomen deep blue-black, with broad stripes of pure white 

 medially ; tibiae, crissum, and edge of the wing pure white. 



Wing, 18.50-19.50; tail, 8.25-8.50; cul men, 5.85-6.75; depth of bill, 

 through middle of nostril, 1.10-1.20 ; bare portion of tibia, 4.00-5.00 ; 

 tarsus, 7.20-8.00 ; middle toe, 4.50-4.80. 



Young. — Entire pileum dull black ; rest of head white ; neck pale 

 cinereous, the foreneck with a narrow longitudinal series of black 

 dashes. Upper parts uniform dark cinereous, without any penicillate 

 plumes ; remiges slate-black (much darker than in the adult). Lower 

 parts plain cinereous laterally, white medially, with narrow stripes of 

 dusky. Tibiae ashy- white ; crissum pure white. [No. 73070 ; Para- 

 guay.] 



In the National collection is a specimen of this species from Patagonia, 

 which difl'ers in several very appreciable respects from the typical style, 

 and probably represents a distinct race. It is much larger than any of 

 the other specimens (exceeding in some of its measurements even the 

 maximum of A. occidentalis), while there are several important peculi- 

 arities in the coloration. The forehead has a distinct white patch ex- 

 tending back in the middle portion for about 1.75 inches, and bordering 

 each side of the crown in "a gradually diminishing narrow line to above 

 the middle of the eye. Of this white there is not even a trace in true 

 cocoi. In the latter, the pearl-gray of the lesser wing-coverts gradually 

 whitens toward the anteripr edge of the wing ; but in this specimen the 

 ash is of a uniform shade, bounded abruptly by a white anterior border. 

 There is likewise a much greater amount of white on the lower parts, 

 this color very largely predominating, while black prevails in the typical 

 form. Other differences, but of less importance, might also be men- 

 tioned. 



