402 ARDEENLE. 



The claws are short or of moderate length, arched, generally 

 compressed, and pointed ; the thin edge of that of the third 

 toe often moderate. 



The plumage is generally full, soft and blended on the 

 neck and lower parts, as well as on the hind part of the 

 back. The feathers, which vary in form, have a small down- 

 plumule. Those on the head, nape, lower part of the neck, 

 fore part of the back and scapulars, are more or less elon- 

 gated. The wings are very large, broad, somewhat rounded ; 

 some of the inner secondaries about the length of the longest 

 primary when the wing is closed. The tail is always short, 

 and of twelve or ten weak, rounded feathers. 



The skeleton varies in the proportion of its parts ; but in 

 the common Heron, Ardea cinerea, may be briefly described 

 as follows : — The cranium is oblong, flattened anteriorly, 

 with a strong transverse ridge on the occiput ; the bony 

 septum between the eyes with a large vacant space ; three 

 large spaces filled with membrane only at the base of the 

 skull anteriorly. The jaws are straight and elongated ; the 

 nasal vacuity oblong and of small extent. The cervical ver- 

 tebrae are very elongated and much compressed ; the upper 

 five long and peculiarly articulated, the lower part of each 

 upper vertebra passing far over the joint behind, while the 

 upper anterior part of the lower vertebra passes upwards. 

 There are in all forty-three vertebra?, of which sixteen are 

 cervical, nine dorsal, eleven sacral, and seven coccygeal. 

 The ribs are very slender, the first rudimentary, the second 

 incomplete, the last two without medial processes. The 

 sternum is very short ; its body of moderate breadth, con- 

 cave, with two deep sinuses behind ; the carina very promi- 

 nent, thin, with a curved convex outline. The clavicles or 

 coracoid bones long and of moderate strength ; the furcula 

 articulated to the tip of the carina, of moderate width, rather 

 stout, with a small process projecting upwards in its angle. 

 The scapulee are slender and arcuate ; the humeral bone 

 very long and stout ; the cubital bones about a fourth 

 longer ; two carpal bones ; the pollical bone slender ; the 

 two metacarpal bones long and united at the end ; the outer 

 first digital bone large and broad ; the terminal bone slender ; 



