182 ARDEID^. 
Favier's successor at Tangier evidently considered tliis 
species a rare bird ; for he asked fifteen dollars (over £3) 
for a specimen, and at that price it is likely to continue 
for some time on liis hands. He stated that the local 
name was " Bou-gernan " (father of thistles) ; but if the 
bird be as rare as Favier implied, how could it bear a local 
name? 
On the Spanish side I failed to meet with this Crane near 
Casa Vieja, but strongly suspect that in some seasons it 
nests there ; indeed a pair of Cranes' eggs that were 
brought to me were so small that I could not refer them 
to Grus communis, but could of course obtain no reliable 
information about them. Indeed, an egg unidentified is 
worse than useless to the ornithologist ; and unless the col- 
lector takes and identifies specimens himself, he had better 
leave them alone. 
In the marismas of the Guadalquivir there is no doubt 
that in former years the present species used frequently to 
breed. Specimens are often to be obtained at Seville 
during March, April, and the early part of May, and again 
in August. Judging from this, they must nest somewhere a 
little further north. 
Family Ardeid^. 
254. Ardea purpurea, Linn. The Purple Heron. 
Moorish, Siad el mraj (the hunter of the marsh) . Spanish. 
Garza. 
" This Heron is, in Morocco, a summer visitant, and 
nearly as numerous as the common Heron. They pass 
north in April, returning in September, many remaining in 
the country to breed, frequenting reed-beds and rushes on 
the edges of lakes and rivers.^' — Favier. 
The Pui'ple Heron, in Andalucia, only remains for the 
nesting-season; and I never knew an instance of its occurrence 
in winter. My earliest dates of arrival observed near Gibraltar 
were the 4th of April 1870, 7th of April 1871, 25th of March 
1872, 7th of INIarch 1874. Thcv arc extremelv abundant 
