950 



NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



ORDER-HERODIONES: HERONS. 



FAMILY— ARDEID^E : HERONS PROPER. 



703. — Ardea sumatrana, Raffles. — (546) 

 GREAT-BILLED HERON. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vi., pi. 54. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxvi., p. 68. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — "Gould : Birds of Australia, Hand- 

 book, vol. ii., p. . |5 (1S65) ; Campbell : Victorian Naturalist 

 (1889). • 



Geographical Distribution. — Northern Territory, Queensland, and 

 New South Wales; also throughout the Austro-Malayan Archipelago 

 up to Further India. 



Nest. — Formed of an outer layer of very strong sticks, with a few 

 small twigs as a lining (Gould — Gilbert). 



Effr/.'i. — Clutch, four probably ; elongated ellipse in shape ; 

 textiu'e of shell coarse ; surface faint trace of gloss ; colour, hght bluish- 

 green. Dimensions in inches : 2'66 x r6. 



Observations. — Gilbert, on the 5th February, 1843, in Port Darwin 

 district, found a nest containing two eggs of the Great-billed Heron, 

 built in a large and lofty mclaleuca. Further, according to Gould, 

 Gilbert states that tliis bii'd is solitary in habits, and only to be 

 found in the most secluded creeks in the open spaces among the man- 

 groves. Although chiefly a northern species, it has, as shown in 

 Dr. Ramsay's Tabular List, been found down the eastern coast as far 

 as New South Wales. The Great-billed Heron has also an 

 Austro- Malayan habitat. An egg received thi-ough the late Dr. Kutter, 

 in my collection, was taken in the Moluccas, 1S7S. 



704. — Ardea cineuea, Linnaeus. — (545) 

 GREY OR COMMON HERON. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 55. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. .\xvi., p. 74. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Hume : Nests and Eggs of Indian 

 Birds (1S75), also (Oates' ed.) vol. iii., p. 233 (1890) ; I.egge : 

 Birds of Ceylon, p. 1130 (1880); Campbell: Southern Science 

 Record (1883). 



GKHjraphicaJ Di^trihiition. — New South Wales and South Australia; 



also New Zealand, Austro-Malayan Archipelago, Asia, Africa and 



Europe. 



*No dimensions given. 



