9. LEPTKRODICS. 115 



Egretta giilaris, llilpp. Syst. Uebers. p. 121 (1845). 



Ardea schistacea, Grm/, Gen. B. iii. p. 006 (1847) ; Hartl. Orn. 



W.-Afr. p. 221 (18r,'7 : Ashanti) ; id. Faun. Madar/. p. 74 (1861) ; 



Brehm, Reis. Hahesch, p. 406 (1863) ; H^-ugl. J. f. 0. 1867, p. 283 



(Dahlak Archipelago) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Aft: p. 712 



(1884: pt.). 

 Ardea affiuis (nee Hors/.), Hartl. Beitr. Orn. W.-Afr. p. 40 (1852 : 



Gambia). 

 Egretta affinis, Hartl. J.f. O. 1854, p. 290. 

 Egretta schistacea, Heur/l. Si/st. Uebers. p. 58 (1856). 

 Ardea calceoluta [nee DuBm), Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 307 (1867). 

 Ardea (Herodias) cineracea (nee Brehm), Cah. J.f. 0. 1868, p. 414. 

 Herodias cineracea, Cah. in Von der Decken, Reis. iii. p. 49, Taf. 17 



(1869). 

 Ardea (Deraiegretta) galaris, Blanf. Geol. 4' Zool. Abyss, p. 435 



(1870: Dissee IsL). 

 Lepterodius gularis, Heine 8) Reicken. Notnencl. Mas. Hein. p. 306 



(1890). 



Adult male. General colour above and below dark slate-colour ; 

 the crown and long ornamental plumes of the nape and of the 

 back, as well as those of the fore-neck, slaty blue ; the chin and 

 upper throat, as well as the cheeks, conspicuously white : " bill 

 orange-yellow ; lores and eyebrows yellow, the latter as well as the 

 nasal region shaded with oUve ; feet olive-blackish ; lower part of 

 tarsi and toes orange ; iris sometimes white, sometimes yellow " 

 {Von HtiKjlin). Total length 21 inches, culmen 3"8, wing 10"9, 

 tail 3'o, tarsus -I'O-d. 



The non-breeding plumage is very much blacker than the full 

 plumage, and the ornamental nape-plumes are wanting, although 

 there are lengthened plumes upon the lower back and on the 

 fore-neck. In the breeding-plumage the feathers become more 

 slaty grey, and the elongated nuchal plumes are developed. The 

 difference, however, between the African bird, D. gularis, and 

 the bird from the Mekran Coast and Sind, D. asha, is verj' appreciable 

 on the comparison of a series. 



Young birds are much greyer than the adults, the general tone 

 of the plumage being ashy brown, with a considerable amount of 

 white on the abdomen. 



The pure white phase of the present species is accompanied by 

 the same development of the ornamental plumage, as the grey phase. 

 Interbreeding between the white and grey birds must undoubtedly 

 take place, as many of the white-plumaged specimens have an 

 intermixture of grey or brown feathers, while the dark-plumaged 

 birds have often an admixture of white feathers, this generally 

 taking place on the bastard-wing or primary-coverts. 



The length of the tarsus varies from 3"5 to 4-75 inches, a variation 

 of more than an inch, even in fully adult birds. The individuals 

 which have the tarsus 4-75 inches were procured by Surgeon-Capt. 

 Penton at Suakin ; but another specimen in his collection bas the 

 tarsus 4"3, which is the same size as in Mr. Blanford's Massowa 

 birds, and therefore the idea that the Red Sea possesses a larger 

 form of Reef Heron must be abandoned. 



Hah. Tropical Africa and Madagascar. From the Gulf of Suez 



I 2 



