PEALE’S EGRET HERON.#
ABDJEA PEJLLII.
Plate XXVI. Fig. 1.
Ardea Padii, N ob. i n Atm. Lye. New York, H , p. 1 55. I d. Cat. birds U.tS. in Contr.
Mad. Lye. Id. Syn. birds U. S.
M y collection.
A m o n g the numerous and still badly known tribes of Herons__a
genus which «yen as reduced according to the sounder views.of
mpdern. authors,. yet • consists of about, fifty spe'eies,. spread .pretty
nearly in, equal numbers, over all parts of the wmAd^a^ma»
group has been distinguished in common language befor Jfljywas
recognised by naturalists, undor the name óf Egret, and it may be
admitted into the system as a*seeondary- division öf the subg&ras
as tins is distinguish^ from Botaurus, JVycticoraoo, &e.
Their elegance of shape, long and slender Mil, but especially
their snowy whiteness, and the flowing train of plumps by which
they are adorned in the perfect state, make them easily cognizable
even at a distance, and seem fully to- entitle them t t such a
distinction. But this Very similarity, as one may well imagine,
renders this several species, for there are several of them, liable
to be, easily confounded together. Besides their remarkable
similarity tBform, colours are wanting to discriminate them; and
we are reduced to those exhibited by the bill|; fora and feet, to
the proportions of the bird and . its respective'memters, and to
%e nature of the plumage of the crest and trains Hi ornament
the adults. The privation p f o r n a m e n t s , in the-young, and
in the adults also when moulting, increases the difficulty, and has
caused them togbe taken .until lately for distinct species : fortunately
this souS^pf confeioa has^heen removed;' and the females
have been aSce^Sked-ta; be* similar to the« male ss - The species?
of EuMopebnd Northern Asih wermthoaefore upon good grounds
reduced..to two#heV^roat,andtftle-'Rm^ly A.,,aVm and A.Garzem;.
but both? formerly, and one?/eyjl» ijfjl now, aw^KeanfOumiad. with
their two American* analogues described by Wilson. - In "'my
‘Observations -on<*tft .N.om&ndature” ©fe.that .^author, as- well as
my-subsequent writmgs., ;%itipu1iiexy.eptmg .admitted
the two. North* American, species, and ad&d '.as^h ir dy-tba bird
now represented foour plate, but I also erred ^follfnsidering the
large American species as the same with th ¥ large. European:
they are in fact no dess .distihet from each, ot-ber/howeveis cfosVly
related, than-, Axdba caruMissima and A. Garzetta. The name'*
of glha, Aefopgs to the European, and, that of egnetta to-iithe;
AnllSraan; although Illiger, 'Lichtenstein,s'^and Tfonmkiefol) not
p e r i l i n g that it was .the legitimate egretta* of Gmelin and.
Latham, and having. applied> that.name to the Eui%eai^^a,fcavn
given me American the new one of A. imee.. I
Mr. Ord, in th e sepOad .edition of ntas:
therefore right in doubting the-identity of the twpfspeuiesj and I
was mistaken when I declared «has doubts unfounded: but he.ougK#
no t to have qp&btesi: as synonymous A.. egrettaoi'Teihminek, &e.
Indeed, I am unacqiiafot|ed with. a. single 'instance in which upon
due examination take riffle will not hold good, th a t n o bird is edm-
mon to both continentl th a t does hot inhabit during^ummer the
high northern latitudes, an d th e Ardea alhd and.'Jte.djp&tta are not
wintei^tirds, bu t ob th e contrary summer visitants of Europe and
the TlnfefljjStates^ and* * do n o t even then range far1 to the N o r th :
th e E iS lp e a n moredver is chiefly found 'in the e a s t/a n d hardly
ever seeh m the west Of th a t continent. This alone ought to have
led us to detect the discrepancy. In order to clear up this point
VOL. IV.*— B b -