232 AEDEIDJE. 



talus melanocephalus breeding, while close by were numbers of nests 

 of Herons, Egrets, and Cormorants. The eggs are of a beautiful 

 green colour, roughly pitted over with slight indentations giving 

 the shell a rough appearance ; they are in shape ovals pointed at 

 both ends. The normal number of eggs is three, aud they vary 

 i'roni 1-8 to 2'15 in length, and from 1*3 to 1*66 in width, the 

 average of 35 eggs being 2-01 in length and 1'40 in width/' 



The eggs of this species are perhaps the most beautiful of any of 

 this family. They are elongated ovals as a rule, regularly pointed 

 towards the small end, and they are of a beautiful uniform blue, 

 a little darker in some specimens, a little paler in others, but with 

 scarcely any green tinge in any of them. The shell is very tine 

 and compact (the pores being very inconspicuous) and has a slight 

 gloss. It is the elegance of the shape of the egg and the extreme 

 uniformity of the tint, coupled with its great purity, that makes 

 these eggs so beautiful as they are. 



Order HERODIONES. 



Family ARDEIDJE. 



Ardea goliat, Temm. The Giant Heron. 



Ardea goliath, Temm., Je.rd. B. 2nd. ii ; p. 739 ; Hume, Rough Draft 

 N. fy'E. no. 921. 



I know nothing of the nidification of this species the Giant 

 Heron. It is so rare that I have never seen an Indian-killed speci- 

 men, except those in the Calcutta Museum, obtained by Mr. Blyth, 

 and I have never yet met with any one else who had. But Mr. Blyth 

 tells us (Journal Asiatic Society, 1855, p. 280): "In the same 

 neighbourhood," namely, in the south-east part of the ISoonderbunds, 

 " Mr. .Frith was credibly assured that the huge Ardea yoliat, Eiippell 

 {A. nobilis, nobis, &c.), also bred, and he expects to be able to 

 procure the eggs of all three species during the next breeding- 

 season." 



Ardea insignis, Hodgs. The Dusky-grey Heron. 



Ardea sumatrana, Raffl., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 740; Hume, Rough 

 Draft N. fy E. no. 922. 



Our Indian Dusky-grey Heron breeds to my knowledge in the 

 Terai below Darjeeling and Nepal and in the Bhootan Dooars, and 

 I have had a large stick-nest, placed high upon a huge tree in a swamp 

 and utterly unapproachable, pointed out to me as belonging to this 

 species ; I was also assured that it bred during July and August, 

 which would fully account for no one having ever taken the eggs, 

 since no European could live many days during these months in the 

 localities it affects. 



