18 ARDEIDA 
Food.—The Purple Heron preys upon fish, small reptiles, 
mammals, frogs, insects and worms. It seeks its food 
mainly after sunset and during the night. 
Nest.—This species breeds on bog-land, amid thick 
reeds and sedges. The surrounding vegetation is generally 
utilised to make a platform, the bird trampling down the 
coarser rushes until a structure is raised two or three feet 
above the water, and on this, smaller fragments of grasses 
and other herbage are arranged to form a rude lining, on 
which the eggs are placed. In the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1901, 
pp. 290-293, an interesting account is given by Mr. R. B. 
Lodge, of his photo-trapping, with a plate of the Purple 
Heron “ automatically photographed by itself.” 
The eggs, three in number, are bluish-green. 
Geographical distribution —The Purple Heron breeds in 
France, Holland, Spain, Central Germany and Southern 
Russia. Considering the proximity of Holland, where the 
bird is common in summer, it is somewhat surprising that 
more records are not forthcoming of the occurrence of the 
Purple Heron on the east side of Great Britain. As a wan- 
derer, it has visited North Germany, Poland, and Scandinavia, 
while it migrates in winter across the Mediterranean, reaching 
North Africa, the islands off the west coast, and extending 
down to the Cape. 
DESCRIPTIYE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial——Top of head and long 
plumes, glossy purplish-black ; sides of head and neck, fawn- 
coloured, striped with bluish-black ; front of neck and throat, 
yellowish-red, with a black streak extending on either side 
of the middle line, and ending at the root of the neck in 
a handsome tuft of brown, grey and black feathers; back 
and wings, dark slate-grey, the long filamentous plumes 
being chestnut : tail, grey ; under wing-coverts, light-brown ; 
breast, rich purple- red ; thighs, rufous. 
Adult female nuptial.—Similar in plumage to the male. 
Adult winter, male and female—The long plumes are 
absent. 
Immature, male and female.— Until the second moult, the 
head, neck and dorsal plumes are absent, and the general 
colour of the back and wings is rusty-red, while the breast 
and abdomen are brownish-white. 
