656 ARDEID^E. 



Breeding Plumage. Whole plumage white ; crest of 2 3 narrow feathers 

 about five inches long ; dorsal train scarcely extending beyond the tail and 

 curled upwards at tip ; pectoral plumes long and pointed. In non-breeding 

 plumage there is neither a crest nor a dorsal train. Bill always black ; base 

 of lower mandible yellowish; irides yellow; facial skin greenish yellow; 

 tarsus black. 



Length. 25 inches ; tail 4 ; wing 9*6 to ii'4; bill from gape about 4 ; at 

 front 3-1 to 3*6. 



Hab. India, Ceylon and Burmah. Breeds in June, July, and part of 

 August. Nidification similar to H. intermedia ; eggs of the same colour, but 

 from 1*6 to 1*8 in length, and 1*25 to 1*38 in breadth. 



1350. Herodias eulophotes, Swinh., Ibis, 1860, p. 64 ; Biyth, 



Ibis, 1865, p. 37; Blyth, B. Br. Burm. p. 159; Hume and Dav., Sir. F. 

 vi. pp. 478, 480; Hume, Sir. F. viii. p. 114; Oates, B. Br. Burm. ii. 

 p. 249. The LITTLE YELLOW-BILLED WHITE HERON. 



In Breeding Plumage. The whole plumage is white ; crest of numerous 

 straight feathers, four inches in length ; dorsal train not exceeding the tail ; 

 pectoral plumes about 3 inches long ; bill yellow ; legs black. 



Length. 20 to 22 inches; tail 3*1 to 37; wing 9-3 to 10; tarsus 2-9; bill 

 from gape 3'8 to 3*9. 



Hab. Tenasserim, at Mergui, also at Amherst. Inhabits Formosa and 

 South China. 



Gen. Demi-egretta. 



Bill long and more slender than in Herodias ; adult plumage dark, other- 

 wise as in Herodias. 



1351. Demi-egretta gularis, Bosc., Act. Soc. H. N. i. t. 2 ; Meyer, 



Zool. Ann. i. t. i ; Hume, Str. F. i. p. 254. Demi-egretta schistacea (Licht.), 

 Hemp, and Ehr. Sym. Phys. t. 6. Demi-egretta asha, Sykes, Cat. 171 ; Jerd., 

 B. Ind. iii. p. 747, No. 928 ; Murray, Hdbk., Zool., &c., Sind, p. 227. The 

 ASHY EGRET. 



Adult. In breeding season, deep slaty blue ; chin, throat, sides of the 

 head, nearly to the gape and the base of the ear coverts, white ; an occipital 

 crest and dorsal train of decomposed feathers, concolorous with the upper 

 parts, and not reaching quite to the end of the tail ; pectoral plumes narrow 

 and pointed ; bill reddish yellow, dusky above ; nude orbitar skin yellowish 

 green ; legs blackish ; feet and lower part of tarsus yellowish. 



Length. 24 to 27 inches; wing IO to ii'4; tail 3 to 3-8 ; irides yellow ; 

 bare portion of tibia 2'2 to 2-9 ; bill 3'5 to 4' I ; tarsus 3-9 to 4-4 ; mid-toe and 

 claw 2*3 to 2*6. Affects the mud flats in the Kurrachee harbour. 



