392 A.RVEIDJE. 



slightly disintegrated, extending nearly to the end of the tail, and 

 lanceolate pectoral plumes. 



As in L. asha, some birds of all ages are white throughout, the 

 adults with crests and pectoral plumes, and with the feathers of 

 the dorsal train sometimes extending beyond the tail. Nestlings 

 vary, being white, grey, or pied. 



Soft parts very variable. Bill brown, yellowish on lower man- 

 dible, sometimes, in white individuals, yellow throughout ; irides 

 yellow; legs and feet dark green, varying to paler green or to 

 black. 



Fig. 93. Head of L. sacer. $. 



Length about 22; tail 3-7; wing 10-75 (9-62-11-75); tarsus 

 2-9 ; bill from gape 3'8. 



Distribution. The whole Burmese coast, the reefs and shores of 

 the Andamans and Nicobars, the coasts of the Malay Peninsula 

 and Archipelago to China and Japan in one direction, and to Aus- 

 tralia and the islands of the Pacific in another. 



Habits, fyc. Very similar to those of L. asha. Eggs taken in 

 Arrakan and the Andaman Islands from April to June do not 

 exceed three in number in each nest ; they are pale sea-green in 

 colour, and measure about 1-7 by 1-3. The nests were, as usual, 

 of sticks. 



Genus ARDEOLA, Boie, 1822. 



The Pond Herons, or, as they are often called by British orni- 

 thologists, Squaeco Herons, are smaller than the true Herons and 

 Egrets, and are somewhat intermediate in plumage between Egrets 

 and Herons. The head, neck, and back are always coloured, but 

 undergo a complete change of colour in the breeding-season ; the 

 posterior half of the body, with the wings and tail, is white. The 

 .species are scarcely distinguishable in non-breeding plumage, 

 though differing widely in their nuptial garb. 



The feathers of the neck, back, and upper breast are elongate, 

 and those of the last two decomposed in breeding-plumage ; a crest 

 of elongate lanceolate feathers is only developed in the breeding- 

 .season. Both the neck and tarsi are shorter than in typical 

 Herons ; the bill is stout, the culmen about equal to the middle 

 toe and claw or to the tarsus ; wings ample ; tail short, of 12 

 feathers. 



Four or five species are known, inhabiting the warmer parts of 

 the Old World ; of these two occur within our area. 



