254 KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 
White phase; Entire plumage white ; bill black on the terminal third; balance flesh color ; 
legs greenish. 
Length, 29; Wing, 14; Tail, 4; Tarsus, 5.30; Bill, 3.90. 
(White phase.) 
For a long time the white phase of this species was considered to be 
distinct and was known as Peal’s Egret. There can be no doubt as to its 
merely being a different phase of plumage and not a distinct species, as the 
young birds, both white and colored, have been taken from the same nest. 
It usually breeds in Florida, the nest being built on the lower branches 
of a mangrove tree close to the water. I found this bird breeding in the 
Bahama Islands, and on June 25, 1879, took a white and a gray bird from 
the same nest, neither of them being old enough to fly. 
The eggs are usually from 3 to 4 in number, being pale blue in color 
SuscEnus HYDRANASSA Bairp. 
ARDEA TRICOLOR RUFICOLLIS (Gosse). 
Louisiana Heron. 
Adult male in breeding plumage: Terminal third of bill black, balance blue; lores blue in 
winter; bill black, yellowish at base; general plumage slaty blue; crest streaked reddish purple, 
