468 BRITISH BIRDS. 



ARDEA CINEREA. 

 COMMON HERON. 



(PLATE 38.) 



Ardea ardea, Briss. Orn. v. p. 392, pi. xxxiv. (17GO). 



Ardea cristata, Briss. Orn. v. p. 396, pi. xxxv. (1760). 



Ardea cinerea, Briss. Orn. \. p. 403 (1760) j Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 236 (1766) ; et 



auctorum plurimorum Latham, Temminck, Naumann, Bonaparte, Dresser, 



&c. 



Ardea nsevia, Briss. Orn. v. p. 410 (1760). 

 Ardea major, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 236 (1766). 

 Ardea rhenana, Sander, Naturforscher , xiii. p. 195 (1779). 

 Ardea johannae, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 629 (1788). 

 Ardea cineracea, Brehm, Vo'g. Deutschl. p. 580 (1831). 

 Ardea brag, St.-Hilaire, Jacquem. Voy. dans VInde, iv. p. 85 (1844). 

 Ardea leucophsea, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1848, p. 58. 



The Common Heron is a somewhat local resident throughout the British 

 Islands, but it does not appear to breed in the Outer Hebrides, and rarely 

 does so in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. 



The Common Heron has a very extensive range, breeding in most parts 

 of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and probably in Australia. It is an occasional 

 visitor to the Faroes, a rare straggler to Iceland, and has occurred once 

 or twice in Greenland. In Scandinavia it breeds up to lat. 65, and occa- 

 sionally wanders as far north as lat. 68. In Russia it is not known to 

 breed further north than lat. 57, but sometimes occurs in West Russia 

 up to lat. 60. In West Siberia it is occasionally seen in lat. 55, and 

 breeds near Lake Baikal and throughout the valley of the Amoor. South- 

 wards it is said to breed in most parts of Africa. It is a resident on the 

 Azores, and is occasionally seen on the other Atlantic islands. South of 

 the limits already given it breeds in most parts of Europe and Asia as far 

 east as China and Japan, and has occurred in Java and Australia. On 

 the American continent it is represented by Ardea herodias, distinguished 

 by its black underparts, and A. wurdemannii, distinguished by its white 

 crest. 



Although the Heron is a resident bird in the British Islands, in other 

 parts of Northern and Eastern Europe it is principally known as a summer 

 visitor. Considerable numbers cross the Straits of Gibraltar during 

 February and March, and arrive in Germany late in March or early in 

 April; they leave again for the south in September and October, arriving 



