316 



REVIEW OF JAPANESE BIRDS. 



being one-qnarter of an inch shorter tbaa the '• bill to gape," whereas 

 in H. intermedia it is at least as long as the commissure. 



H. plumiferus of Gonld, from Australia, is very closely allied to the 

 present species, if not (piite identical. It seems to differ chietly in bar- 

 ing the bill yellow even in the breeding plumage, while in the Japanese 

 form it is black during the summer; the latter form also appears to have 

 the naked portion of the tibia3 entirely black, and not " inclining to 

 tlesh -color,'- as the Australian bird. 



The Intermediate Egret is easily recognized by its short and com- 

 paratively stout bill, and should at no season be confounded with any 

 of its congeners. 



Measurements. 



(136.) Herodias garzetta (Lin.). 



Little Egret. Shira-sagi. 



1766.— Jrrfm yarzetia (LiXN.), S. N., 12 ed.,I, p. 237.— Temminck, Man. d'Orn., 2ed.^ 

 Ill, p. Hi (1835); IV, p. 376 (1840).— Temm. & Schleg., Fauna Japon., Aves^ 

 p. 115 (1349).— SCHLEGEL, Mus. P.-Bas, Ardeie, p. 12 (1863).— Maktexs, 

 Preuss. Exp. Ost-A.s. Zool., I, pp. 88, 106 (1866); p. 371 (1676).—Egretfag. 

 Bl.\kist. &. Pryer, Ibis, 1878, p. 2'2A.—Eerod)as g. BoiE, Isis, 1822, p. 559.— 

 McVe.\x, Proc. R. Pbys. Soc. Eilinb., 1877, Extr., p. 7.— Seebohm, Ibis. 1879, 

 p. 27.— Blakist. & PiiYER, Tr. As. Soc. Jap., VIII, 1880, p. 200.— /iY7., ihid., 

 X, 1882, p. 119.— Blakist., Amend. List B. Jap., p. 24 (1884). 



1770. — Ardea nivea S. G. Gmelin, Reise Russl., I (p. 164). 



1774. — Ardea santodactylos S. G. Gmelin, Reise Russl., Ill (p. 253). 



1810. — Ardea xanthodacfyla Rafinesque, Caratteri (p. 5). 



1816. — Ardea mjuinoctialia Leach, Syst. Cat. M. B. Br. Mus., p. 33 (nom. nud.). 



1831. — Ardea orienialis J. E. Gray, Zool. Miscell., p. 20. 



1854. — 1 Herodias lindermayeri Breiim, Journ. f. Oru., 1854, p. 80. 



1855. — Garzetta egretta Bonaparte, Consp. Av., II, p. 118 (nee A. egretta G.mel.). 



In regard to the synonymy I have the following remarks to make : 

 Ardea nigrirostris J. E. Gray, Zool. Misc., p. 19, is often quoted as a 

 synonym to this species, but the length of the middle toe with claw, 4 

 incbes=102""", at once dismisses it from consideration in the present 

 connection. 



Herodias jnhata Brehm, Handb. Vog. Deutsclil., p. 58G, also regularly 

 quoted as belonging here, seems to me to be something else, perhaps a 

 distinct but overlooked species, for he describes it as having an occipital 



