666 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
HERODIAS, Boie. 
Herodias, Boie, Isis, 1822, 559. Type .flrdea egretta. Not of Bonap. 1855. 
Egretta, Bonap. Saggio di una dist. Met. 1831. Type Ardea egretta. 
Ch.—C olor white. Bill quite slender. Culmen nearly straight; more convex terminally than the gonys. Middle toe more 
than half the tarsus. Tibia bare for one-half. Outer toe longest. Claws moderate, considerably curved. Tarsus broadly scutellato 
anteriorly. Head smooth. Back in breeding season with a series of fastigiate plumes longer than the tail, and curving gently 
downwards. Tail of twelve broad stiffened feathers. Back of neck well feathered. Colors pure white at all times. 
The white heron from southern California is much larger than that from the eastern States, 
and possibly distinct. 
HERODIAS EGRETTA, Gray. 
“White Heron. 
Ardea egretta, Gmelin, I, 1788, 629.—Lath. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 694, (not of other older European writers.)— 
Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, 1813, 106; pi. vi.— Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827 ; ^3rdeasp. 7 .—Bonap. Oss. 
Cuv. 97.—Nuttall, Man. II, 1834, 47.— Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 600 ; pi. 386.— Ib. Syn. 265.— 
Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 132 ; pi. 370. 
Herodias egretta, Gray, Genera.— Gundlacii, Cab. Jour. IV, 1856, 341. 
Ardea leuce, “ Illiger,” Licht. Verz. 1823, sp. 793. 
Egretta leuce, Bonap. (Saggio, 1831 ?) List, 1838. 
Herodias leuce, Brehm, Handbuch, 1831, 585. 
Ardea alba, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1825, No. 189.— Ib. Syn. 304. (Not of Linnaeus.) 
Great egret, Pennant, II, 446. — Latham. 
Sp. Ch.—H ead smooth ; bill yellowish to the tip ; feet black. Color pure white. Length, 39 inches ; wing, 15.50 ; tarsus, 
5.70 ; bill above, 4.70. 
Hab. —Southern portions of the United States ; straggling to Massachusetts. 
Bill, with the culmen and gonys about equally curved, the commissure slightly concave near 
the tip. Legs slender, elongated ; middle toe about three-fourths the tarsus. Tibia bare for 
about half its length. Head without a crest; the feathers lying close. Lower part of the back, 
in the breeding season, with a series of elongated feathers, with stiffened shafts, the plumulae 
distant and elongated. These feathers are gently pendent (not recurved) and extend beyond 
tbe tail by about its length ; their total length is nearly three times that of the tail. The 
feathers of the lower part of the neck but little elongated. 
Color entirely white; feet black; bill yellowish, dusky above, (in 9298.) According to 
Audubon, the entire bill and the iris are yellow. 
This species appears to differ from the European E. alba in lacking a black tip to the bill ? 
which is five inches long, not six ; the tarsus is about six inches long, instead of eight. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. No. 
Locality. 
Whence obtained. 
Collected by— 
2735 
S. F. Baird . 
9208 
Prairie Mer Rouge, La_ 
Jas. Fairie_ _ 
5802 
do_ 
_do_ _ 
5775 
Kansas_____ 
Lieut Bryan_ 
W. S. Wood. 
5107 
Oapt. Pope__ 
