106 HERON. 



72— GREEN HERON. 



Ardea virescens, Lid. Orn. ii. 684. Lin. i. 238. Gm. Lin. i. 635. 



Anlea stellaris minima, Klein, 123. 



Cancrofagus viridis, Bris. v. 4S6. t. 37. f. 1. Id. 8vo. ii. 339. 



Le Crabier verd, Bnf. vii. 404. 



Small Bittern, Cates. Car. i. pi. 80. 



Green Heron, Gen. Syn. v. 68. Bart. Trav. p. 291. Amer. Orn. vii. 97. pi. 61. f. I. 



LENGTH eighteen inches. Bill greenish brown ; beneath 

 yellowish next the base; between that and the eye bare and yellow; 

 irfdes yellow ; crown of the head blackish, gilded green, with a 

 gloss of copper in some lights, and the feathers elongated, forming 

 a handsome crest ; neck ferruginous bay ; chin and throat white ; 

 the rest of the neck before streaked with white ; in the direction of 

 the under jaw, beneath it, a ferruginous streak; back, tail, and 

 wings, dusky brown, with a tinge of lead-colour ; the lesser wing- 

 coverts and prime quills like the back, edged with buff-colour; the 

 middle and larger wing coverts glossy dark green, with ferruginous 

 edges ; breast and belly dusky ; the feathers on the lower part of the 

 neck narrow, and fall over the breast ; those of the back the same, 

 covering the rump ; legs greenish. 



The female has the crown dusky, the feathers scarcely elongated ; 

 those of the neck pale brown, streaked with white; back and scapu- 

 lars brown ; the last marked with white at the end ; all the wing 

 coverts have a triangular white spot at the tip ; the last row tipped 

 as the others, and margined with the same ; second quills dusky 

 green, with pale edges ; the greater brown, glossed with green, and 

 tipped with white; the under parts of the body pale ash-colour; 

 bill and legs as in the male. 



Inhabits New York, and several parts of North America ; also 

 Jamaica, and other West India Islands. I have received birds from 

 both, and observe, that the Jamaica one is highest coloured. Sup- 

 posed to breed in Carolina, as they are found there only in summer : 



