ARDEID. IL 2 V 



Family ARDi^lDi^.— Herons. 



Goifra. 



With the tail composed of 12 feathers; claws rather short and strongly curved 

 (tail feathers stiffer than the coverts); (Sub-family Ardei'nce;) bill only moderate, 

 never equal to the length of the middle toe and tarsus combined ; bill without distinct 

 serrations on the upper mandible; upper mandible with notch near the tip. 



a. Cnhiicn longer than the tarsus^ the latter longer than the middle toe. 



(Page 21.) Demiegret'ta. 



aa. Cnlrnen shorter than middle toe and about equal to tarsus; plumage of young 

 and old very different; bill thick, i.e.^ culmen rarel}' more than four times as long as 

 the depth of bill at base (Page 21.) Nycti'corax. 



Genus D:EMIEGRETTA Bi.yth. 



General color above and below deep blackest slate, the feathers almost black; 



feathers of the upper breast elongated like those of the middle back, both paler slaty gre^■; 



abdomen and vent feathers tinged with ashy white ; a pure white streak down the centre 



of the throat. Female similar. Young: Paler and more sootv brown. White form: 



Exacftly similar to the grey form, only white. Hab. Malay Peninsular and islands to 



Australia, Islands of the Pacific, Fiji, Samoa, etc., north to bay of Corea. Hawaiian 



Islands (? ).'" 



37. D. sacra (Gmel.). Sacred Heron. 



Gknus NYCTI'CORAX Stephens. 



Prevailing color ^ bluish grey in adult ^ broiunish and sti-iped longitudinally zuith 

 zvhite in the young; gonys nearly straight; culmen and tarsus about equal (Sub-genus 

 Nycticorax); base of forehead and eyebrow white ; no chestnut on the back and tail ; no 

 white on the back; under tail coverts \\hite, as well as the under sides of the body, with a 

 delicate shade of grey, especially on the neck and chest; back and cro-wn glossv black 

 green; wings dove color; head with two or three long slender white plumes, in the 

 breeding plumage. Female: Similar to adult male both summer and winter. Young: 

 Light brown above, tinged with cinnamon, most marked on the wing quills ; each 

 feather of the body with a white tear-shaped shaft stripe; quills with small white 

 tips ; sides of head and neck and entire lower parts striped white and greyish brown; 

 throat whitish. Length 23.00-26.00 (25.00), wing 11. 60-12. 50, tail 4.10-4.75, culmen 

 2.70-3.35, tarsus 2.72-3.05, middle toe 3.10-3.45, depth of beak .85-.95. ^^f^f^- Wide- 



20 The reference which President Dole makes (Hawaiian AnnuaL 1879, p. 52) to this species is the uiily .-iccount of ith ever hLiiiy seen in 

 the Lslands. Since he speaks of it as "common all over the group," and "when in full plumage the long feathers of the crest and back are 

 blackish purple, and from th? back of tlie head three long feathers of the purest white hang." etc.. it is quite probable that the bird de- 

 .scribed is the common Aukii. 



[277J 



