66 
GREAT WHITE HERON. 
The bill is nearly six inches in length, of a rich orange yellow, 
tipt with black; irides a paler orange, pupil small, giving the 
bird a sharp and piercing aspect; the legs are long, stout, and 
of a black colour, as is the bare space of four inches above the 
knee; the span of the foot measures upwards of six inches; the 
inner edge of the middle claw is pectinated; the exterior and 
middle toes are united at the base for about half an inch, by a 
membrane. 
The articulations of the vertebrae are remarkably long; the 
intestines measure upwards of eight feet, and are very narrow. 
The male and female are alike in plumage; both, when of full 
age, having the train equally long. 
