The Great Blue Herons 



specimen in existence. Yet in the face of the emphatic testimony to the 

 former abundance of the bird farther north, as upon the Columbia River, 

 we hardly care to question the fact of its earlier presence in California. 

 At that I am very distrustful of the earlier records. The "fathers" were 

 apt to make blanket claims upon everything known to exist. Moreover, 

 some of them suffered from eastern editors, as witness the inclusion of five 

 species of Leucosticte in "The Ornithology of California," edited by 

 S. F. Baird, from the manuscript and notes of J. S. Cooper. No; the 

 fathers weren't overlooking anything. We ourselves find only one species. 



No. 382 



Great Blue Heron 



No. 382a California Great Blue Heron 



A. O. U. No. 194. Ardea herodias hyperonca Oberholser. 



Synonyms. — "Blue Crane." Kelp Heron. 



Description. — Adult: Crown, sides of head, throat, and middle of chest, 

 narrowly, white; occiput and top of head on sides glossy black, the feathers elongated 

 into an occipital crest; neck pale purplish brown, a mesial stripe in front black, white, 

 and ochraceous; feathers of side of neck in front much lengthened, whitish and purplish 

 brown; sides of breast, and belly, broadly streaked with black and white in about equal 

 proportions; edge of wing, including the bend, and thighs, cinnamon-rufous; lower 

 tail-coverts white; above nearly uniform slaty blue; the scapulars lanceolate, sometimes 

 varied with bluish white; black shoulder tufts of plumulaceous feathers arching over 

 bend of folded wing, and continuous with black on sides of the breast; wing-quills, 

 lining of the wings, and sides bright plumbeous; lores blue. Upper mandible yellowish- 

 olive, blackening on ridge; lower mandible yellow; feet and legs black. The occipital 

 crest of the male contains two much elongated, filamentous, deciduous feathers during 

 the breeding season. Immature: Similar, but top of head entirely black; without 

 specially colored or lengthened feathers on neck, sides of breast, or scapulars; upperparts 

 inclined to fuscous; underparts with slaty and ochraceous in addition to black and white; 

 feathers on bend of wing and thighs lighter, or vinaceous-rufous. Young in first plum- 

 age: Brownish-fuscous above, streaked and spotted with buffy and whitish, narrowly 

 on head and neck; below white, streaked with fuscous and buffy. Juvenile plumages 

 vary interminably within these general limits, but the bird is unmistakable. Length 

 about 1270 (50.00); extent about 1905 (75.00). Male: wing 497 (19.57); tail 186.5 

 (7-35); bill H4-6 (5.70); depth at base 29.5 (1.16); tarsus 188.3 (74!5)- Female: 

 wing 473 (18.62); bill 137.7 (5-4 2 ); depth 26.5 (1.04); tarsus 170.3 (6.705) (after Ober- 

 holser). 



Recognition Marks. — Eagle size; great size and elongated proportions, with 

 bluish cast of plumage, unmistakable. 



Nesting. — A bulky platform of sticks placed high in trees or, less commonly, 

 on ground in marsh. Eggs: 3 or 4, rarely 5; elliptical or ovate elliptical; light bluish 

 green (glaucous green to deep lichen green), unmarked. Av. size 65.3 x 45 (2.57 x 1.77) ; 

 index 68.9. Season: April; one brood. 



1888 



