8.8 AilBEID^. 



Ardea intermedia (nee Wagl.), Finsch, Neu-Guinea, p. 183 (1865) ; 



Schl. N. T. Dierk. iii. p. 348 (1860: Aru Isl. ; Little Kei) ; 



Rosenb. Malay. Arch. pp. 220, 278 (Celebes), p. 373 (Aru Isl. ; 



Kei Isl.), p. 696 (Salawati), p. o63 (New Guinea). 

 Herodias intermedia (wee Wagl.), Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. 



ii. p. 139 (1877); Salvad. Ann. Afws. Gewow. xiv. p. 667 (1879: 



Kei Isl.) ; id. op. cit. xviii. p. 333 (1882) ; id. Orn. Papuasia, etc. 



iii. p. 352 (1882 : Ternate ; Aru Isl. ; Mafor) ; Ramsay, Tab. List 



Austr. B. p. 21 (1888). 

 Herodias melanopus (nee Wai/l.), Ratnsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. 



ii. p. 199 (1877) ; WAlb. Ann. Mus. Ge7iov. x. p. 20 (1877) ; id. ^ 



Salvad. op. cit. xiv. p. 146 (1879). 



Adult male in breeding-plumage. Similar to M. hracliyrhyncha 

 from Africa, and having the bare part of the tibia yellow, the bill 

 entirelj' yellow as well as the bare skin of the face : " bill and 

 orbits yellow ; feet and lower part of tarsi black ; upper part of 

 tarsi inclining to flesh-colour " (J. Gould). Total length 25 inches, 

 «ulmea 3"1, wing 11, tail 5'4, tarsus 4-05, middle toe and claw 3*7. 



Hah. Australia, New Guinea, and the Moluccas, probably as far 

 as Celebes. 



•rt. Ad. st. New South Wales. Austrahan Museum, 



b, c. Ad. sk. Queensland. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



d, c? ad. sk. Ceram. Wallace Coll. 



4. HERODIAS. 



Type. 



Herodias, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 559 H. egretta. 



Egretta, Bp. Oss. Regno .iyiim. p. 97 (1830) H. egretta. 



Casmerodius, Gloyer, Handb. p. 412 (1842) H. egretta. 



Range. Nearly cosmopolitan. 



Although the series of the Great White Egrets in the British 

 Museum is a very large one, it does not contain a sufficient number 

 of carefully sexed specimens to settle the question of the different 

 races of these birds with any attempt at finality. The series of 

 European birds is much too .small to allow of definite conclusions, 

 with regard to it and the Indian form ; but it would appear, even 

 from the small amount of material at command, that the European 

 H. alba is much larger, and that this large form extends at least to 

 Afghanistan, the tarsus measuring more than 7| inches. It would 

 appear also to visit India in winter, as Mr. Hume obtained a male 

 in the Ajmcre district in January which had a tarsus of 8-1 in., and 

 Major Eingham procured a specimen at Delhi with a tarsus of the 

 same length. At the same time it is extremely difficult to draw 

 the line between this larger form and the smaller race, which 

 appears to inhabit the tropics. Thus, on the same day that Mr. 

 Hume procured a specimen with the tarsus 8'1 inches, ho also shot 

 another male in the same place with the tarsus only 6"35 inches ; 

 again. Major Bingham procured two females near Delhi, in June, 

 which had the tarsus 5-25 and 6'7 respectively. We are confronted, 

 therefore, with a difference in the length of the tarsus in these large 

 Egrets of nearly three inches. A great deal of difference in the 



