18 ARDEIDJE 



Food. The Purple Heron preys upon fish, small reptiles, 

 mammals, frogs, insects and worms. It seeks its food 

 mainly after sunset and during the night. 



Nest. This species breeds on bog-land, amid thick 

 reeds and sedges. The surrounding vegetation is generally 

 utilised to make a platform, the bird trampling down the 

 coarser rushes until a structure is raised two or three feet 

 above the water, and on this, smaller fragments of grasses 

 and other herbage are arranged to form a rude lining, on 

 which the eggs are placed. In the ' Zoologist ' for 1901, 

 pp. 290-293, an interesting account is given by Mr. R. B. 

 Lodge, of his photo-trapping, with a plate of .the Purple 

 Heron " automatically photographed by itself." 



The eggs, three in number, are bluish-green. 



Geographical distribution. The Purple Heron breeds in 

 France, Holland, Spain, Central Germany and Southern 

 Russia. Considering the proximity of Holland, where the 

 bird is common in summer, it is somewhat surprising that 

 more records are not forthcoming of the occurrence of the 

 Purple Heron on the east side of Great Britain. As a wan- 

 derer, it has visited North Germany, Poland, and Scandinavia, 

 while it migrates in winter across the Mediterranean, reaching 

 North Africa, the islands off the west coast, and extending 

 down to the Cape. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head and long 

 plumes, glossy purplish-black ; sides of head and neck, fawn- 

 coloured, striped with bluish-black ; front of neck and throat, 

 yellowish-red, with a black streak extending on either side 

 of the middle line, and ending at the root of the neck in 

 a handsome tuft of brown, grey and black feathers ; back 

 and wings, dark slate-grey, the long filamentous plumes 

 being chestnut ; tail, grey ; under wing-coverts, light-brown ; 

 breast, rich purple-red ; thighs, rufous. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar in plumage to the male. 



Adult winter, male and female. The long plumes are 

 absent. 



Immature, male and female. Until the second moult, the 

 head, neck and dorsal plumes are absent, and the general 

 colour of the back and wings is rusty-red, while the breast 

 and abdomen are brownish- white. 



