130 ARDEINJE. ERODIUS. 



Ardea purpurea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 236. Ardea purpurea, 

 Lath. Tnd. Ornith. ii. 697. Ardea purpurea, Temm. Man. 

 d'Ornith. ii. 570. Ardea purpurea, Purple Heron, MacGil- 

 livray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



GENUS CXVI. ERODIUS. EGRET. 



The Egrets differ from the Herons chiefly in being of a 

 more slender form, with the neck and legs extremely elon- 

 gated, and the latter having a larger portion of the tibia 

 bare ; the bill more attenuated, with its dorsal line a little 

 deflected toward the end. Many of the species are also 

 furnished with very long dorsal plumes, of which the fila- 

 ments are disunited. The genus, however, is not well de- 

 fined, being blended with Ardea on the one hand, and Bo- 

 taurus on the other. The bill is much longer than the head, 

 strong, but rather slender, straight, compressed, tapering to 

 a point ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, until 

 toward the end, when it is a little deflected, the ridge broad 

 and convex at the base, gradually narrowed, the nasal de- 

 pression narrow-oblong, with a groove extending to near the 

 end, the sides convex, the edges sharp, often serrulate, with 

 a notch close to the tip, which is very acute ; lower man- 

 dible with the angle very long and extremely narrow, the 

 dorsal line ascending and almost straight, the sides concave, 

 the edges direct, often serrulate, the tip acuminate ; gape- 

 line straight. Mouth rather narrow, but extensile ; tongue 

 long, slender, trigonal, tapering to a point ; oesophagus 

 very wide in its whole length ; proventriculus dilated ; sto- 

 mach a hemispherical thin sac, with a round pyloric lobe ; 

 intestine very long, and extremely slender ; rectum with an 

 oblong ccecum ; cloaca large and globular. Nostrils linear. 

 Eyes rather small. Aperture of ear small, roundish. Legs 

 extremely long, slender ; tibia bare for half its length, or 

 more, covered with hexagonal scales ; tarsus very long, an- 

 teriorly scutellate ; toes long, slender, scutellate above, flat- 

 tened beneath ; the first large, the second a little shorter 

 than the fourth, which is connected with the third by a basal 

 web ; claws moderate, arched, compressed, acute, that of the 

 middle toe with a serrated inner edge. Plumage soft and 



