GllALLATORES. 299 



Sp. 548. ARDEA NOVyE-HOLLANDIJi, Lath. 



White-fronted Heron. 

 Ardea novce-hollandice, Lath. Ind. Orii., vol. ii. p. 701. 

 White- fronted Heron, Lath. Gen. Syu. Supp., vol. ii. p. 304. 

 Ardea leucops, Wagl. Syst. Av., Ardea, sp. 17. 



Herodias nov(s-hollandi(iE, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part iii. p. 80. 

 Wy-an, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia. 

 Blue Crane of the Colonists. 



Ardea novae-hoUandiae, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi 

 pi. 53. 



The White-fronted Heron is abundantly dispersed over 

 every part of Tasmania, the colonies of New South Wales, 

 South Australia, and Swan River ; but I have never seen it 

 from the north coast, and consequently infer that it is not 

 found there. Low sandy beaches washed by the open ocean, 

 arms of the sea, and the sides of rivers and lagoons, both in 

 the interior of the country as well as near the coast, are 

 equally tenanted by it ; consequently it is one of the commonest 

 species of the genus in all the countries above mentioned, and 

 may frequently be seen wading knee-deep in the water of the 

 salt-marshes in search of food, which consists of crabs, fish, 

 and marine insects. Its flight is heavy and flapping like that 

 of the other Herons, but it runs more quickly over the ground, 

 and is continually moving about when searching for food, and 

 never stands motionless in the water as the true Herons do ; 

 these active habits are, in fact, necessary to enable it to 

 capture insects and crabs, upon which it mainly subsists. 



Some nests I observed in the month of October IS 38, on 

 the banks of the Derwent, were placed on the tops of the 

 smaller gum-trees, and most of them contained newly hatched 

 birds ; Mr. Kermode informed me that it annually breeds 

 in the neighbourhood of his estate, near the centre of 

 Tasmania. The nest is of a moderate size, and is composed 

 of sticks and leaves. The eggs are four in number, of a pale 



