195 unuoxs AND BITTERNS.

188. Tantalus loculator Lz'nn. Wool) luis. .l:/.illead and neck hare: primaries. secondaries, and tail glossy greenish hlaek, rest ot' plumage white. lilt.**llt':ltl more, or less leathery-d; head and neck grayish brown. hlaeker on the, nape; rest of plumage as in the adult, hut more or less marked with grayish; wings and tail les. greenish. l.., 40'0“; \\'_, 15-00; ’1‘;|1-_,7~1‘.o; J}. from N, s0o.

1:'IIII{/('.*W’l.l‘l‘lllt‘ill and suhtropieal .\meriea: lireeds in the Gulf" States, and,

after the breeding season, murders irregularly northward, sometimes reaching Kansas, \\'iseonsin, Indiana. Pennsylvania. and New York.

\\'ashington. A. \'., two specimens. Long Island. A. V.

)lst, a platt'orm ot' stieks in trees. Iii/W3 two to three. dull white with a soft calcareous deposit, 2'75 x l'Té.

This is a locally common species in Florida.

FAMILY ARDEIDIE. HERONS AND BITTERNS.

This family contains about seventy-fire species distributed in most. parts of the globe, but more numerously in the intertropieal regions. Gene 'ally speaking, Herons are gregarious. nesting and roosting in flocks. While feeding they are more solitary. but each night they regularly return to roost with their kind in a " rookery.” Bitterns do not associate in flocks, and are generally found singly or in pairs. As a rule, they feed in grassy marshes, while llerons more commonly resort to the shores of lakes. rivers. hays, or salt~water lagoons. Some species secure their food of frogs, fish. small reptiles, etc., by standing rigidly motionless and waiting for it to come within striking distance, or by wading for it with the utmost caution. Others run rapidly and noisily through the water. trusting to their agility and the rapidity of their spear-like thrus ‘ to supply their wants. Ilerons, unlike our ll-ises and (francs, fly with their folded neck drawn in between their shoulders. Their voice is a hoarse squawk.

KEY To 'rnr: Sl’l-Zt'lES. 1. Wing over lfl‘fltt A. l’lumagc pure white, (1. Wing lT'W or m‘er; t'eathers on the lower ueek long. narrow. 19:3. (int-2m Warn-2 ill-lettN. h. Wingr under 17.00: neck-feathers not lengthened . 196. AM. EtiltE’l‘. 1)’. Upper parts generally slaty or grayish lblllU. 133. Waizn’s llrzuos. 194. GREAT BLL‘E ”EROS. ll. Wing under 13'00. l. (‘rown without streaks. A. ('rowu white or whitish. (1. Wing over 11’0“. r11. l’llunage entirely or mostly white . . . 199. Rmmisu EURET. (1’. ’lumage gray streaked with black: throat and sides ot‘ neck black . . . . . . . . 203. Yl-Zl.l.n','.'~t‘]:(,i\\N161! Nuiu'r llElil'N.