62 THE BIRDS OF ANDROS ISLAND, BAHAMAS 



57. Rallus coryi Maynard. Bahaman Rail. — A single specimen from 

 Conch Sound, Andros, April 15. It was shot and skinned by Mr. Alexander 

 Keith, a Scotch gentleman, to whom the writer takes pleasure in acknowledging 

 his indebtedness for this and many other favors, while on Andros. This bird was 

 known as the Marsh Hen, and is said by the people to be common, but we never 

 met with it again. On May 28 a woman brought us three eggs that she said were 

 those of a Marsh Hen. They are ovate to elongate -ovate in shape, and are nearly 

 cream color with chocolate spots and blotches irregularly distributed over the 

 entire surface but much more numerous at the larger end. Mingled with these 

 chocolate spots are others of a lavender gray. The eggs are of the following di- 

 mensions: 1.60 X 1.30; 1.70 X 1.22; 1.70 X 1.20 inches. 



[A single specimen in fine (unworn) plumage is provisionally referred to Rallus 

 coryi. It is, however, about the size of ordinary R. crepitans, from which it dif- 

 fers in the gray edgings of the plimiage, being much broader than in even extreme 

 examples of that form, resulting in a generally grayer effect. — J. A. A.] 



58. Ardea herodias Linn. Great Blue Heron. "Arsnicker." — Not un- 

 common. 



59. Ardea rufescens Gtnel. Reddish Egret. — Abundant in the swashes. 

 The white phase of this bird was also common; many were seen, and three speci- 

 mens were collected. 



60. Ardea tricolor ruficollis Gosse. Louisiana Heron. "Switching-neck." 

 — Two pairs were obtained at Mastic Point in May. They were breeding in a 

 large mangrove, about a mile and a half from the shore. These birds agree with 

 Ridgway's description (''Manual North American Birds," p. 131) except that the 

 upper part of the throat is not white, but rufous mixed with white. These also 

 agree with Cory's description of A. cyanirostris. But a specimen collected on the 

 western side of Andros answers to Cory's description of A. leucogastra, var. leuco- 

 prymna, and differs from the above specimens in the following points. The fore- 

 head and crown are much darker, being quite black; the throat has more rufous, 

 and the neck is darker. The nest of the Mastic Point birds was composed of 

 small mangrove sticks, laid so as to make a circular structure nine inches in 

 diameter and three or four deep. There was a slight depression in the top, in 

 which were placed a few sticks, parallel to each other, and on these were four eggs. 

 The latter vary in shape; some being ovate, while others are almost equally pointed 

 at both ends. They are nearly malachite green ^ in color, but with a slightly 

 bluer tinge. The measurements are as follows: 1.71-1.84 x i. 29-1.34 inches. 



*6i. Ardea caerulea Linn. Little Blue Heron. — One specimen, shot at 

 Stafford Creek May 5. No more were seen, which seems curious, as Dr. Bryant 

 regarded this as the most common species of Heron; ^ and Cory states that it was 

 abundant during the winter, but no adults were taken by him.^ My remarks, how- 

 ever, only apply to Andros, and the bird might be common in other localities. 



62. Ardea bahamensis Brewster. Bahama Green Heron. — Locally known 



^ Ridgway, "Nomenclature of Colors." 



2 Pj-oc. Best. See. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII, p. 120. 



3 "Birds of the Bahamas," p. 171. 



