ARDETDJ^ AKDEA 55 



Genus I. ARDEA. 



Type. ~ 

 Ardea Briss. Orn. v, p. 391 (1760) A. cinerea. 



Bill long, straight and pointed, at least two- thirds the length of 

 the tarsus ; grooved on the. sides of the upper mandible ; nostrils 

 eloDgated slits towards the base of the groove ; a bare space from 

 the base of the bill to the eye ; wings long, but the primaries not 

 longer than the secondaries ; tail short, nearly square, of twelve 

 feathers ; legs long, lower third at least of the tibio-tarsus bare of 

 feathers, the bare portion exceeding the inner toe and claw ; tarsus 

 scutellated in front ; head crested, feathers at the base of the neck 

 and on the scapular region, elongated to form ornamental plumes. 



Sharpe has recently placed the Purple Heron in a separate 

 genus, under the title of PJioyx, on account of the shortness of its 

 tarsus, and the length of the claw of the hallux. The old arrange- 

 ment has here been retained, and under these circumstances the 

 genus contains some eleven species spread over the greater portion 

 of the Earth's surface. Four of them inhabit Africa. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Of large size, wing over 20; crown, nape and 



sides of the neck rufous A. golia tit, p. 55. 



B. Of intermediate size, wing about 18 ; crown, 



back and sides of the neck white, sides of 



the head, nape and crest black A. cinerea, p. 58. 



C. Of small size, wing under 16. 



a. Crown, nape and sides of the neck black ... A. melanocephala, p. 60. 



b. Crown, nape and back of the neck black, 



sides of the neck rufous A. purpurea, p. 62. 



585. Ardea goliath. Goliath Heron. 



Ardea goliath, Cretzschm., in Eilpp. Atlas, p. 39, pi. 26 (1826) ; 

 Gumey, Ibis, 1860, p. 220, 1868, p. 256 [Natal] ; Kirk, Ibis, 1864, p. 

 332 ; Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 305 (1867) ; id. Ibis y 1869, p. 376 ; 

 Gurney, in Andersson's B. Damaral. p. 285 (1872) ; Ay res, Ibis, 

 1873, p. 283, 1877, p. 349 ; Barratt, Ibis, 1876, p. 193 ; Butler, Stray 

 Feathers, x, p. 149 (1881) ; Holub <& Pelz., Orn. Siid-Afr. p. 273 

 (1882) ; Butler, Feilden and Eeid, Zool. 1882, p. 343 ; Shelley, Ibis, 

 1882, p. 363 [Mashonaland] ; SJiarpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 707 

 (1884) ; Fleck, Journ. Ornith, 1894, p. 387 ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 157 

 (1896) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xxvi, p. 66 (1898) ; Woodward bros., 



