232 NIGHT HERON. 



cream-colour; breast and abdomen white, similarly tinged. Wings, 

 rump, and tail, light greyish-blue, tinged with Hlac. 



Length to end of tail 25 j\ inches, to end of wings 25-J§, to end of 

 claws 30/^; extent of wings 44; wing from flexure 13|; tail 5; biU 

 along the ridge 3/j, along the edge of lower mandible 4^*^ ; bare part of 

 tibia 1^ ; tarsus 3^ ; middle toe 3, its claw ^"|. Weight 1 lb. 14 oz. 



Young after first moult. Plate CCXXXVI. Fig. 2. 



Bill and bare space about the eye yellowish-green, the ridge of the 

 upper mandible, and part of the lower towards the end, black. Iris 

 bright red. Feet pale greenish-yellow. At this period the occipital fea- 

 thers are not developed. The general colour of the upper parts is light 

 greyish-brown, the edges of the feathers paler ; that of the lower parts 

 dull white, tinged with grey and cream colour, with the central part of 

 each feather greyish-brown ; the feathers of the back and wings, as well 

 as the secondary quills, have a long triangular spot of brownish-white at 

 the end ; the rump and tail more tinged with bluish-grey. 



The Adult Female resembles the Male. 



Amaryllis Atamasco, Willd. Sp. PI. vol. ii. p. 51. Pursh, Flora Amer. Sept. vol. i. 

 p. 222. 



This species, which grows in swamps, and moist woods, in Virginia 

 and Carolina, is characterized by having an acute bifid spatha, an erect 

 funnel-shaped corolla of a pale rose-colour or pure white, with a short 

 tube at the base^ the segments nearly equal, as are the dechnate stamens. 

 It flowers in June and July, and attains a height of from eight inches to 

 a foot. 



