Family ARDEIDAE. 



Ardea purpurea L. — Purple Heron. 



(Plate 118, fig. a-c>. 

 (Snouckaert: Avifauna Necrlandica, p. 81, No. 191,''. 



Colour of surface of shell : 



Average dimensions: 

 Average weight of shell : 

 Textiire of shell: 



Shape : 

 Nest: 



Site of nest : 



Number of eggs: 



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pale greenish blue; completely covered with 

 a very thin layer of lime. (See introduc- 

 tion of the Family). 



57.6 X 40.9 millimetres. 



3.57 grams. 



usually slightly less smoothly granulated (the 

 constituent grains are mutually slightly 

 more distinctly distinguishable) than in 

 cinerea; in the surface of the shell there 

 are often more or less long grooves; the 

 clearly visible pores are often joined to- 

 gether in long rows. 



as a rule ovoidal. 



composed of dry reedstems, sticks, rushes 

 and blades of Gramineae. 



in thick growths of reeds, at a height of 

 about 1 Metre on stems that are bent 

 down; also on low water-willows up to 

 about 3 Metres from the ground (in large 

 or small colonies). 



4—5, usually 5, only in exceptional cases 

 more. ') 



May. 



about 28 days. 



') JOURDAIN alleges, wrongly, that in Holland the clutch frequently compri- 

 ses 6 eggs. 



