12 
ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 
and no white young ; but one of my dark specimens has white feathers on the head 
and in the tail, while one of the secondary quills has the outer web chiefly white. 
My companion of last winter’s Florida trip reports that he saw no Reddish Egrets 
with white except on the secondaries. 
“ Regarding the large Herons [i. e. A. Wardi], I am much inclined to think them 
a geographical variety . . . the specimens being very uniform in color. ... I exam- 
ined some thirty nests at least, fifteen of which contained young, all being dark col- 
ored, with one exception. These birds are common in Southwestern Florida, and their 
nests are frequently found along the coast. From all the information at my com- 
mand, connected with my own observations, I am almost convinced that the bird in 
question is separate and distinct from A. occidentalis and A. Wiirdemanni, and the 
fact that Audubon found the former in immense numbers among the mangrove 
islands of Eastern Florida is strong evidence that he happened in the vicinity of one 
of their rookeries. As you will observe by examining the diagram of my camping- 
place, and noting the rookeries of large Herons, . . . these birds were quite common 
in that vicinity ; while I saw only a few specimens of A. occidentalis. The white 
bird found in the nest with the blue might have come there from an adjoining empty 
nest, some thirty or forty feet distant, as it could easily have done, being nearly full- 
grown. This surmise is strengthened by the circumstance that I saw a large white 
Heron on the island marked ‘ and my companion killed a similar, if not the same, 
specimen on the large island marked ‘ 2,’ which he threw away, supposing it to 
be a common White Egret [ Herodias egretta ]. These I now believe to have been 
A. occidentalis ; the other [//. egretta ] was then laying its eggs, while the description 
of A. occidentalis corresponds to my recollection of the bird he killed. At the time, 
I was not familiar with the description of A. occidentalis. 
“ In the Little Blue Heron [. Florida ccerulea ] and Reddish Egret \_Dichromanassa 
rufa\ where dichromatism appears to be an established fact, each species presents 
different phases and mixtures of both colors, especially the Little Blue, which shows 
almost every variety of curious markings of blue and white ; while in the Reddish 
Egret, one specimen shows white on the head, tail, and wings, and others reported by 
Mr. Adams show white on the wings. 
“ As before said, I believe the bird to be a geographical variation of A. herodias, 
residing permanently and breeding in South Florida. I think that further search 
and observation will develop more evidence concerning A. occidentalis and A. Wiirde- 
manni, which may result in confirming your theory of their being one and the same 
species. You will pardon my opposing your opinion; but my convictions are so 
strong, that only the finding of white birds with blue young, and more cases of blue 
parents with white young, or adults showing mixtures of both phases, would over- 
come them.” 
Assuming that the large white birds observed by Mr. Ward were really a white 
phase of the dark-colored birds obtained by him, which were so numerous in the 
locality, it certainly appears strange that so few of the former were seen. The case 
of the Reddish Egret which he cites, affords, however, an exact parallel, and it is now 
considered established beyond question that “ Peale’s Egret ” ( Ardea Pealei, Bonap., 
— a pure white bird) is merely a white phase of this species. As to the comparative 
rarity of these large white birds, in the locality where observed by Mr. Ward, mili- 
tating against any theory of their specific identity with the dark-colored birds, it 
should be remembered that in the case of nearly every dichromatic species of bird 
this condition is more or less variable with locality. A pertinent example may be 
cited in the case of Demiegretta sacra, a Heron of wide distribution in the Far East. 
