445 



Ardea sumatrana. 



GKEAT-HILLE L) 11 EKON. 



Ardra .■<ii,iiin/rana, Yia,fi\es, Trans. Linn. Hoc, Vol. XII [„ p. 325 (1822); Gould, Hanclbk. Bds. 

 Austr, Vol. II., p. 200 (18(;5) ; Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXVI., p. 6S (1898), 

 id.. Hand-1. Bds., Vol. I , p. 194 (1899). 



Arili'a rwlironlris, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol., I., pi. 54 (1848). 



Adult. — Geiieral coloii,r above, iiiclndiiig tin' l<i,i/, sl'i/i/-ijrr-i/, lliy. iuiai/-< sUglilhj darkfr mid 

 faiiithj iiliissed ivitli f/reeu, llo' iniieriaosf secondaries and scapulars elongated and tvhitish at tite tips ; 

 crown of liead and lengthened nncltal pbiines slaty-grey, the latter whitislt at the lips ; sides of head 

 pale vinoHS-broimi ; chiit and npper throat white ; neck slnly-brotvu passing into slaty-grey on the 

 ri'inainder of the iinder surface, ivliich is faintly streaked ivilh ivhite, the lengthened plumes on the 

 fore-neck with a conspicnaus mesial streak of ivhite, some in the centre being very slightly washed 

 ivith pale vinons-brouni. Tntnl leiigtii Ji2 inches, wiiig 17'5, tail ir.25, bill H-.i, tarsns ir7o. 



Diiti'ihutiou. — Northern Territory, Northern (jueensland. 



AT^ HE type of the present species was described by Kaffles in the " Transactions of the 

 i Linnean Society of London," in 1822, as Ardca snmaliana, the specific name indicating 

 the island in which the specimen was obtained. Subsequent research has extended its ran^^'e 

 from South-eastern Asia throughout the islands of the .\ustro-Malayan Region to .^ustraha. 



An Australian example was described by Gould, in the " Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London," in 1843, under the name of Ardca rectirostris, its habitat being recorded as 

 New South Wales, but it must be temembered that neither (Jueensland nor \'ictoria at that 

 time were separated from the mother colony, and New South Wales included the greater portion 

 of Eastern .Australia. As the States are now constituted, the distribution of the Great-billed 

 Heron in Australia is restricted to the Northern Territory and Northern Queensland. 



From Broken Hill Dr. W. iMacgillivray sent me two eggs on loan for description, accom- 

 panied by the following notes: — "Ardca sumatvaiia was noted on the 4th July, 191 1, flying over 

 a swamp at Cape Grenville ; then in February one of these birds was seen on the beach at 

 Charo Bay, Cape York. On the 2Sth February, 1912, Mr. McLennan notes : — ' Found a nest 

 ol Ardca sumatydiia, \v\{\\ a fully fledged young one sitting on a limb close by, in a mangrove 

 creek at Charo Bay. Climbed to the nest to get a close look at both it and the young one; the 

 latter calmly walked out to the end of the limb and stood watching me, and did not show any 

 sign of fear. The head, neck and under surface was rufous-brown, under tail-coverts and flanks 

 lighter; back, upper wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts dark brown, with a rich rufous-brown 

 edging to each feather ; primaries and rectrices dark slate; bill dull leaden-blue; legs patches 

 of creamy-yellow over dull leaden-blue; irides silvery-cream colour. Height about three feet. 



" The nest was placed on a horizontal fork of a mangrove, overhanging the channel, twenty 

 feet from the surface of the water, and was composed of dead mangrove sticks and twigs, 

 measuring over all about eight feet by two feet six inches by one foot thick in the centre. On 

 the 15th March this young one was perched on a tall mangrove about four hundred yards from 

 the nest." 



The eggs vary from oval to swollen-oval in form, the shell being comparatively close-grained 

 and lustreless, or nearly so, but its surface is covered with numerous shallow pittings, as if made 

 with the point of a pin, many of them being longitudinal, some few of the latter, abnormally 

 112 



