PURPLE HERON. 473 
ARDEA PURPUREA. 
PURPLE HERON. 
(PLate 38.) 
Ardea purpurascens, 
Ardea cristata purpurascens, Bri Orn. v. pp. 420, 424, 455 (1760). 
Ardea botaurus major, 
Ardea purpurea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 236 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum— 
Temminck, Naumann, Bonaparte, Dresser, &c. 
Ardea rufa, : 
iets yariepata, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. pp. 87, 88 (1769). 
Ardea caspia, Gmel. Reise Russi. ii. p. 193, pl. 24 (1774), 
Ardea rutila, Lath. Gen. Syn, Suppl. i. p. 291 (1787). 
Ardea botaurus, ‘ ; 
evra Gimel. Syst, Nat. i. pp. 636, 641 (1788), 
Ardea caspica, Turton, Brit. Fauna, i. p. 54 (1807). 
Ardea monticola, Lapeyrouse, Tab. des Ois. fide Wagl. Syst. Av. Ardea, no. 6 
(1827). 
Ardea pharaonica, Bonap, Consp. ii. p. 113 (1857). 
There is no reliable evidence that the Purple Heron has ever bred in 
this country, and it must be regarded as a somewhat rare straggler, 
principally to the eastern and southern counties of England, though it has 
been obtained twice in Scotland and once in Ireland. Of the Scotch 
specimens one was killed in Caithness, and the other in Aberdeenshire in 
March, whilst the Irish example was taken near Carrickmacross in 
Monagan. 
The range of the Purple Heron is almost as great as that of the Common 
Heron, except that it does not extend so far north. The bird is a summer 
visitor to the Spanish peninsula, the south of France, Italy, Central and 
Southern Germany, the valley of the Danube, the extreme south of 
Russia, Greece, and Asia Minor, and occasionally wanders into North 
France, Holland, Belgium, and North Germany, but has only once been 
found in Scandinavia. It is said to be a resident in Sicily and Palestine 
and in most parts of Africa, including Madagascar, its numbers in those 
countries being increased during winter. It is said to be found in 
Damara Land at all seasons of the year, and is very common at the Cape, 
although it has not actually been found breeding there, but its eggs have 
been taken in the Transvaal. Eastwards it breeds in Persia, Turkestan, 
India, Ceylon, and Burma. It also occurs, and may probably breed, in 
Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and the Philippine Islands. It has been 
met with, though very rarely, in various parts of China; and Finsch and 
