Male, 54, 83. Female, 50, 75.
Resident in the Southern Florida Keys. Texas. Never seen to the eastward of Cape Florida, nor on the mainland. Common.
Great White Heron, Ardea occidentals, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 542; v. v. p. 596.
371. 7. Ardea Herodias, Linn. Great Blue Heron.
Plate CCXI. Male.
Bill dusky green above, yellow beneath; feet dull green, paler behind; feathers of the head long, tapering, decurved, two of them extremely elongated; very long, tapering, pointed feathers from the anterior part of the back; forehead pure white, the rest of the crest feathers bluish-black; throat white, neck pale purplish-brown, the elongated feathers beneath greyish-white, with part of the inner webs purplish-blue, forming a longitudinal band; upper parts light greyish-blue, the elongated tips of the dorsal feathers greyish-white; edge of the wing, some feathers at the base of the fore neck, and the tibial feathers, brownish-orange; two tufts of large curved feathers on the fore part of the breast bluish-black, some of them with a central stripe of white; lower surface of wings and sides light greyish-blue; elongated feathers of breast, white, their inner edge black, of the abdomen chiefly black; lower tail-coverts white, some of them with an oblique mark of black near the tip. Young in first plumage without the elongated dorsal feathers, the colours duller and tinged with brown; upper part of head streaked with white, as is the breast.
Male, 48, 72.
Resident from Texas to South Carolina. In spring migrates over the United States, and along the Atlantic coast to the Gulf of St Lawrence. Breeds everywhere. Retires southward in autumn. Common.
Great Heron, Ardea Herodias, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 106.
Ardea Herodias, Bonap. Syn. p. 304.
Great Heron, Ardea Herodias, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 42.
Great Blue Heron, Ardea Herodias, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 87; v. v. p. 599.