270 



ARDEID^, HERONS. GEN. 238. 



with buff superciliary stripe ; tail browu ; quills greenish-black, with a 

 glaucous shade, brown-tipped ; bill black and j'cUowish, legs greenish, soles 

 yellow; 23-28 long; wing 10-13; tail 4J, of only 10 feathers; bill about 

 3; tarsus about 3 J. Temperate N. Am., abundant. Not gregarious ; nests 

 on the ground ; eggs 4-5, drab-colored. Wils., viii, 35, pi. 65, f . 3 ; Nutt., 

 ii, 60 ; AuD., vi, 94, pi. 365 ; Bd., 674. Endicott, Am. Nat. iii, 169. minor. 



Fig. 177. Bittern. 



i.|^ 



238. Genus ARDETTA Gray. 



* LeaH Bittern. No peculiar feathers, but those of the lower neck long 

 and loose, as in the bittern ; size very small ; 11-14 inches long ; wing 4-5 ; 

 tail 2 or less ; bill 2 or less ; tarsus about 1|. Sexes dissimilar. ^ with 

 the slightly crested crown, back and tail, glossy greenish-black ; neck 

 behind, most of the wing coverts, and outer edges of inner quills, rich 

 chestnut, other wing coverts brownish-yellow ; front and sides of neck, and 

 under parts, brownish-yellow, varied with white along the throat-line, the 

 sides of .the breast with a blackish-brown patch ; bill and lores mostly pale 

 yellow, the culmen blackish ; eyes and soles yellow ; legs greenish-yellow ; 

 9 with the black of the back entirely, that of the crown mostly or wholly, 

 replaced b}^ rich purjilish-chestnut, the edges of the scapulars forming a 

 brownish-white stripe on either side. U. S., common. Wils., viii, 37, pi. 

 65, f. 4; Nutt., ii, 66; AuD., vi, 100, pi. 366; Be, 673. . . exilis. 



/ 



Family GRUID^. Cranes. 



As ah'eady intimated, cranes are related to rails in essential points of structure, 

 though more resembling herons in their general aspect. They are all large birds, 

 some being of immense stature ; the legs and neck are extremely long, the wings 

 ample, and the tail short, usually of twelve broad feathers. The head is generally, 

 in part, naked and papillose or wattled in the adult, with a growth of hair-like 

 feathers, or, in some cases, an upright tuft of curiously bushy plumes. The general 

 plumage is compact, in striking contrast to that of herons ; but the inner remiges, 

 in most cases, are enlarged and flowing. In some species, the sternum is enlarged 

 and hollowed to receive a fold of the windpipe, as in swans. Bill eqmrlling or 

 exceeding the head in length, straight, rather slender but strong, compressed, con- 

 tracted opposite the nostrils, obtusely pointed ; nasal fossro short, broad, shallow ; 

 nostrils near the middle of the bill, large, broadly open and completely pervious ; 



