60 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



occasionally wanders as far north as lat. 68°. In Russia it is not 

 known to breed further north than lat. 57°, but sometimes occurs 

 in West Russia up to lat. 60°. In West Siberia it is occasionally 

 seen in lat. 55°, and breeds near Lake Baikal and throughout the 

 valley of the Amoor. The nest is a large structure, usually built 

 on a tree, and composed of sticks and lined with fine twigs ; it is 

 very flat, and sometimes contains turf and moss. The old nest is 

 usually repaired year after year, and, by the time the young are 

 able to fly, it is whitewashed with the droppings of the birds. 

 Several nests are generally built in one tree. 



The Heron lays from three to five eggs. They are greenish- 

 blue in colour, dull, and chalky in texture. The shell is often 

 full of minute pits, or covered with small white excrescences. 

 Some eggs are much bluer -green than others. They vary in 

 length from 2 '65 to 23 inches, and in breadth from 1*79 to 1'5 

 inch. 



THE PUEPLE HERON. 

 (Ardea purpurea.)* 



Plate 17, Fig. 3. 



The Purple Heron must be regarded as a somewhat rare strag- 

 gler, principally to the eastern and southern counties of England, 

 though it has been twice obtained in Scotland and once in Ireland. 



The range of the Purple Heron is almost as great as that of the 

 Common Heron, except that it does not extend so far north. It is 

 said to be a resident in most parts of Africa, including Madagascar ; 

 its numbers in those countries being increased during winter. 

 Eastwards it breeds in Persia and Turkestan. 



The nest is a large structure, two feet or more in diameter, and 

 is very flat. It is generally built on reeds. 



The eggs are from three to five in number, and vary considerably 

 both in size and shape, some being much more rounded than 

 others. They vary in length from 245 to 195 inch, and in breadth 

 from 175 to 1'45 inch. They are greenish-blue, and do not differ 

 in colour or texture from those of the Common Heron, from which 

 it is impossible to distinguish them, though on an average they 

 are slightly smaller. 



* PJwyx purpurea — Sharpe, Handb., III., p. 66. 



