14 
ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 
II. 1835, 87 ; V. 1839, 599, pi. 211 ; Synop. 1839, 265 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 122, pi. 369. — Baird, 
B. N. Am. 1858, 668; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 487. — Coues, Key, 1872, 267; Check List, 
1873, no. 449 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 655 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 517. — Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, 
no. 487. 
Ardea Hudsonias, Linn. S. N. I. 1766, 238. 
Hab. The whole of North and Middle America, excepting Arctic districts; north to Hudson’s 
Bay, “ Fur Countries,” and Sitka ; south to New Granada, Venezuela, and the Galapagos ; Bermu- 
das, and throughout the West Indies. 
Sp. Char. Adult: Length, about 42.00-50.00 ; extent, 72.00 ; weight, 5 to 8 pounds. Fore- 
head and central feathers of the crown pure white ; sides of crown and whole of the occiput, 
including the long plumes, blue-black. Chin, throat, and malar region pure white. Neck 
lavender-gray, fading gradually above into the white of cheeks and throat. Foreneck with a 
narrow medial series of black and ferruginous dashes mixed with white ; lower neck-plumes pale 
lavender-gray. Lateral jugular tufts uniform blue-black ; breast and abdomen black, almost uni- 
form laterally, but the middle feathers with broad medial stripes of white. Crissum white, the 
feathers sometimes edged with rufous. Tibial feathers deep chestnut-rufous, not growing conspicu- 
ously paler toward the body. Upper parts fine slate-blue, the dorsal and scapular plumes paler, 
more pearl-gray, — the lightness of the tint proportionate to the length of the plume ; remiges 
black, the inner secondaries growing gradually more slaty, so that the innermost are scarcely 
darker than the tertials. Tail deep slate-blue, a shade darker than the tertials. Entire border of 
the wing, from the armpit to the metacarpo-phalangeal joint, rich purplish-rufous, scarcely mixed 
anywhere with white, and much the widest at the bend. Bill olive above, the culmen blackish ; 
lower mandible wax-yellow, brighter terminally (sometimes wholly yellow) ; iris bright yellow ; 
bare loral space cobalt-blue in spring, olive-greenish or yellowish after breeding season. Legs and 
feet dusky-black throughout. Young : Above slate-gray (less bluish than in the adult), destitute of 
any penieillate plumes ; anterior lesser wing-coverts bordered terminally with light rufous ; border 
of the wing (broadly) white, more or less tinged with rufous, especially at and near the bend, 
where this color prevails. Entire pileum, including all the occipital feathers, blackish-slate, with 
a narrow median crest of more elongated darker-colored feathers, with pale fulvous shaft-streaks. 
Cheeks dark grayish ; malar region, chin, and throat only, pure white. Neck dull gray, some- 
times tinged with rufous, some of the feathers with indistinctly lighter shaft-streaks ; foreneck 
with a narrow longitudinal series of black, rufous, and whitish dashes, much as in the adult. 
Breast and abdomen broadly striped with dark cinereous and white, in nearly equal amount 
