NESTS AND EGGS Ol- AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 959 



712. — Demieghetta sacra, Gmulin. — (553, 555, and 556) 

 Herodias atha (nee Sykes), Gould. 

 D. jufjularis, Foi-sler. 

 D. greyi. Gray. 



REEF HERON. 



/V^«re.— Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi.,pls. 59 to 61. 



Rtfereme. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxvi., p. 137. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Go\i\d : Birds of Australia (184S) , 

 also Handbook, vol. ii. p. 308 (1865) ; Potts : Trans. New 

 Zealand Inst., vol. iii., p. 97 (1871) ; Hume : Nests and Eggs 

 Indian Birds (1S75), also (Gates' ed.) vol. iii., p. 246 (iSgo) ; 

 BuUer : Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 133 (18S8) ; North : 

 Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, 2nd ser. vol. ii., p. 445 ; also Austn. 

 Mus. Cat., pi. 18, fig. 5, (1889) ; Le Souef ; Ibis, p. 422 (1895). 



Geographical Distribution.- — Coasts of Australia and Tasmania; 

 also Now Zealand and other .islands of the Pacific up to Corea Bay ; 

 coasts of Further India and Austro-Malayan Archipelago. 



Nesf. — Somewhat shallow, and about 15 inches in diameter, con- 

 structed of coarse, herbage, lined inside with finer mateinal, and usually 

 placed on a ledge or under shelving rock or in a tree at various heights. 



Eg<j^. — Clutch, two to three, occasionally four ; elliptical in shape, 

 textiu^e somewhat coarse ; surface withovit gloss ; colour, bluish- white ; 

 when held up to hght the inside lining of the .shell is a beautiful light- 

 gi'een. Dmiensions in inches of a full clvitch : (1) 1 '86 x 1-34, 

 (2) 1-85 X 1-35, (3) 1-77 x 1-35, (4)1-77 x 1-32. (Plate 26.) 



Observation!'. — The Reef Heron is found along our shore line, and 

 on outlying reefs and islands elsewhere. It is supposed to be a tropical 

 or sub-tropical species, but about twenty years ago I observed Reef 

 Herons, both the slate-coloured bird and the pure white variety, as 

 near Melbourne as Phillip Island. A few years after, Mr. E. D. 

 Atkinson, of Tasmania, reported having fovmd birds breeding for 

 successive seasons on small islands oflt the north-west coast of that State. 



The Blue Reef Heron has slaty-black plumage, reUeved with stripe of 

 white or buff down the chin. At fii'st sight the bird resembles the 

 familiar White-fronted Heron, biit being about 23 inches in length it is 

 shorter, shai-per in appearance, and not so stately as the White-fronted 

 Heron. The ^Vhite Reef Heron, with the exception of a greenish- 

 coloiu-ed bill and legs, is perfectly white ; otherwise in shape and size 

 it is the duplicate of the dark-coloured bird. This difference of colour 

 has sorely pvizzled naturalists. Some authorities treat them merely as 

 varieties, others as different species. Gould, oui" great Australian 

 observer, separated the birds. Mr. Atkinson and I observed the 

 association of both varieties in Bass Strait ; but it is a strong point for 

 Gould that only the dark variety is foimd in New Zealand. Why do 

 not the two coloured birds develop there as in Australia and the Austro- 



