Ii8


THE MIDDLE EGRET.


(Herodias intermedia).


Native names: Patangka or Patokha bogla, Karchia-bogla,

Hind. ; Puruwallai-koku , Tamil of Ceylon.


This size of Egret corresponds, when in winter plumage,

very closely with the last, but it has a proportionately shorter bill,

and is smaller, though not very much less than small specimens

of the Large Egret, the total length being twenty-six inches,

and the wing a foot. The shank, however, is less than five inches

long, and the bill under four. In complexion, and in the change

thereof in the breeding season, it resembles the Large Egret,

but it carries a more costly wedding-robe, having “osprey”

plumes not only on the back but on the breast also. The train

is particularly long, sometimes reaching nearly a foot and a half,

and almost touching the ground.


This species is found throughout a large portion of the

warmer regions of the Old World, from Africa to Australia. It

is resident with us, and breeds in closepacked colonies in trees,

laying four pale blue-green eggs. It is a particularly tame

species, often breeding in towns, and on this account and of the

abundance of plumes it carries, would be particularly suitable

for protective cultivation in the open.


THE SMALL EGRET.


(Herodias garzetta).


Native names: Kilchia or Karchia bogla, Hind.; Nella

nucha konga, Telugu ; Sudu-koka , Cingalese.


This smallest size of Egret is only a little over two feet

long, with an eleven-inch wing, and four-inch shank and

bill, the last-named member being thus proportionately longer

than in the two larger species. The bill is always black and the

face yellow ; the legs are black, and the toes more or less yellow.

In breeding dress this bird carries a train of the usual style, but

gracefully turned up at the end; it also has a tuft of breast-

plumes, but these are simply long ordinary feathers, not filamen¬

tous ones; and a crest of two long ordinary plumes adorns the

head.


This dainty looking bird inhabits practically all the

warmer parts of the Old World, and is a resident with us; it is

more prolific than the other species, laying as many as half-a-

dozen eggs. For aviary cultivation this would be the best

species of our three ; but there is a better species of even smaller

size in America, with filamentous plumes on head, breast and

back: — the Snowy Egret ( Leucophoyx ca?ididissima).



