Ardea. BIRDS. CULTRIROSTRES. 95 



CULTRIROSTRES. 



Gen. LVIII. ARDEA. Heron. — Gape extending as far back 

 as the eyes. Nasal groove reaching almost to the end of 

 the bill. 



126. A. cincrea. Common Heron. — Plumage bluish-grey. 



Middle toe with the claw much shorter than the tarsus. 



Will. Orn. 203.— Slbb. Scot. 18,— Linn. Syst. i. 236 Pom. Brit. Zool. ii- 



421 — Temm. Orn. ii. 567-— E, Heronshaw ; S, Craiged Heron ; W, 

 Cryr Glas ; £, Corra riathach ; A r , Hegrie.— Common. 



Length 3|, breadth 5i feet; weight upwards of 3 pounds. Bill nearly G 

 inches long, dusky ; the under yellow. I rides yellow. Legs greenish. Tar- 

 sus plated in front, but reticulated towards the toes. Tip of the tongue subu- 

 late. Crest black. Long feathers on the neck, next the breast, and on the 

 shoulders. Front, neck, and belly white. Sides, and stripes on the neck in 

 Front, black. A singular patch of concealed soft feathers on the breast. The 

 third feather in the wing longest. Inner web of the three first abbreviated 

 near the end. Tail-feathers 12 in number. Willoughby and Cuvier state 

 that this species has only one ccecum. I have observed two, both short. Fe- 

 male, when old, like the male. Gregarious in the breeding season, in heronries. 

 — Nest, on trees, of sticks, fined with wool. Eggs 4 cr 5, of a greenish-blue 

 colour, and about the size of those of a duck. The young are destitute of the 

 crest, and the long-feathers on the scapulars and neck. — This species feeds on 

 fish, and is particularly destructive to those in ponds. 



127- A. stdlaris. Bittern. — Plumage yellowish-red, with black 

 spots and bars. The cheeks and crown black. 



Will. Orn. 207 — Sibb. Scot. 18 — Linn. Syst. i. 239.— Pen. Brit. Zoo\. ii. 

 424.— Temm. Orn. ii. 580 ; — E, Miredrum, Dumbycoss, Butterbump ; 

 S, Buttour, Bogjumper, Bogblutter ; IF, Aderyii y bwnn, Bwmp v 

 Gors. — Near extensive fens, but not common. 



Length 2i feet. Bill four inches long, brown, the lower mandible and 

 edge of the upper, together with the space round the eyes, and the feet, green- 

 ish yellow. Irides yellow. The feathers on the nape, neck, and breast lom>- 

 and loose. Quills and greater covers regularly barred with black. Tail shorf, 

 of 10 feathers. Female, less, with the plumage less bright, and the neck feath- 

 ers shorter. — Nest in marshes, of reeds. Eggs 5, olive-green. — Preys on fish 

 and reptiles. In the breeding season, makes" a loud bellowing noise. It has 

 disappeared from many districts where formerly it abounded, and is daily be- 

 coming scarcer. 



STRAGGLERS. 



1. A. Egretta, Temm. Orn. ii. 572. — To this species, it is probable that the 

 Ardca alba major of Willoughby (Orn. 205.) observed in this country by 

 Johnston, and termed by Merret, (Pinax 181.) a Mire Dnimble, must be re- 

 ferred. Montagu states, on the authority of Latham, that it has been killed 

 in'Cumberland, and that it has likewise been once supposed to have been seen 

 in Devonshire. The individuals seen in Britain appear either to have been 

 young birds, or old ones in moult, in which state thev are destitute of the 

 elongated soft feathers of the head and back. 



