122 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



The handsome Purple Heron (Ardea piirpured] 

 and the Night Heron (Nycticorax griseus) have 

 been shot in this country, but they can only be 

 considered as rare visitors, that do not come within 

 the scope of a work of this kind, which is written to 

 give the general public an idea of the birds described 

 in their haunts and general surroundings. 



THE COMMON HERON. 



(Ardea cinerea.) 



MALE. The bill is yellow ; the ridge of the upper 

 mandible brown towards the end ; iris yellow ; fore 

 and upper parts of the head greyish-white. From 

 the eyes to the occiput the feathers are glossy blue 

 black ; general tone of neck whitish, tinged with 

 reddish-purple, passing into purplish-grey below. 

 A line of oblong black spots on a white ground 

 runs down the fore-part of the neck ; the upper 

 parts are bluish-grey ; the pointed scapular feathers 

 bluish-white ; quills a deep blue-black, tinged with 

 ash grey, the secondaries shading into that colour ; 

 the edges of wings white. From the shoulders a 

 broad band of bluish-black feathers, on fore-part of 

 breast white, spotted with black ; sides ash grey ; 

 tail ash-grey, darker towards the end. The bare 

 space between the bill and the eye is green ; legs 

 and feet are olive-green, touched with yellow. 

 Length, from bill to tail, thirty-nine inches. 



The female is similar to the male, but her crest is 

 shorter. 



