[Illustration 122: Pale bluish gray.] [Illustration: Least Bittern. Cory's Least Bittern.] [Illustration: deco.] [Illustration: left hand margin.] Page 121 192. GREAT WHITE HERON. _Ardea occidentalis._ Range.--This species occurs in the United States regularly, only in the southern parts of Florida. It is a resident of the West Indies. This large white Heron is about the same size as the Great Blue Heron; it has none of the slender plumes found on the smaller White Herons. These birds are not uncommon in southern Florida, especially on the Keyes, where they build their nests in company with Great Blue Herons. Their nesting habits and eggs are very similar to those of the Blue Heron. Size of eggs 2.25 × 1.80. Data.--Outside of Torch Key, Florida, June 16, 1899. Nest a platform of sticks about five feet from the ground, in a mangrove tree. Three eggs. Collector, O. Tollin. 194. GREAT BLUE HERON. _Ardea herodias herodias._ Range.--Nearly the whole of North America, except the extreme north; resident south of the middle portions of the United States and migratory north of there. This handsome Heron is about four feet in length. Its general color is a bluish gray, relieved by a black crest, primaries and patches on the sides, and a white crown. In the south they breed in large colonies, often in company with many other species. In the northern portions of their range they breed singly or in companies of under a hundred individuals. They generally place their rude platforms of sticks well up in trees, near ponds, swamps or rivers, but in the most northerly parts of their range, where trees are scarce, they often build on the ground. Unless they are disturbed, they return to the same breeding grounds, year after year. They lay from three to five eggs of a greenish blue color. Size 2.50 × 1.50. Data.--Duck Island, Maine, May 20, 1883. Three eggs. Nest of sticks and twigs, about fifteen feet from the ground. Collector, R. B. Gray. 194a. NORTHWEST COAST HERON. _Ardea herodias fannini._ This darker sub-species of the breeding is found along the Pacific coast, north to Sitka, Alaska. Its nests and eggs do not differ from the former species. [Illustration 123: Great White Heron. Great Blue Heron.] [Illustration: deco.] [Illustration: right hand margin.] Page 122 194b. WARD'S HERON. _Ardea herodias wardi._ This sub-species is a resident in Florida. It is a lighter variety than the common. It nests together with the Great Blue Heron and its habits are the same. 195. EUROPEAN HERON. _Ardea cinerea._ This species is only an accidental straggler in Greenland. It is very similar to our Blue Heron and is the one which was formerly used to furnish sport for the royalty when falconry was at its height. 196. EGRET. _Herodias egretta._ Range.--Resident in the southern portions of the United States, straggling northward casually to the northern parts.