GREEN HERON. 



109 



xf; tarsus 2; hind toe %, its claw ^; middle toe 1-g-, its claw |?; inner toe If, 

 its claw i; outer toe If its claw i. Weight 7^ oz. 



The female is considerably smaller, but otherwise similar. 



Length to end of tail 17 inches, to end of wings 17, to end of claws 21|; 

 extent of wings 25. Weight 6i oz. 



Young fully fledged. 



The bill dull greyish-green, the lower mandible lighter; bare space around 

 the eye greenish-blue, with the exception of a streak of yellow at the upper 

 part. Iris yellow. Feet greenish-yellow, duller than in the adult. The hind 

 neck light brownish-red, the fore part of the neck and all the under parts 

 white, longitudinally streaked with brown- 

 ish-red, some of the long feathers on the sides 

 of the neck also white. At this age there 

 are no elongated feathers on the back, which 

 is greenish-blue, as well as the scapulars and 

 tail-feathers. Wing as in the adult, but the 

 smaller feathers on its anterior part more red, 

 the coverts with a small triangular tip of 

 white, and the quills narrowly tipped and 

 margined with the same. 



Length to end of tail 17^ inches, to end of 

 wings 17, to end of claws 23; extent of wings 

 25. Weight 6£ oz. 



The roof of the mouth is anteriorly a little 

 concave, with a median prominent line; the 

 palate convex; the lower jaw with a kind of 

 joint about an inch from the base, its inter- 

 crural membrane or skin very extensile. The 

 tongue is 1^ inches long, very slender, tri- 

 gonal, emarginate at the base, with a groove 

 along the middle, and pointed. Posterior 

 apertures of nares linear, \ inch long. (Eso- 

 phagus, a, b, c, 10 inches long, its walls deli- 

 cate, its diameter at the upper part li inches, 

 gradually contracting to ^ inch at its entrance 

 into the thorax. The lobes of the liver un- 

 equal, the right 1 inch 5 twelfths long, the left 1 1 twelfths; the gall-bladder 

 large, 7 twelfths long. The stomach, c cl, is membranous, of an oblong form, 

 9 twelfths long, 10 twelfths in breadth; its tendons elliptical, 5 twelfths by 



