292 



HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES. 



tarsus and feet is brown, the claws being black. A straggler to Britain, the 

 purple heron is common in Holland and Spain, and ranges over the greater part 

 of Europe to the southward of Central Germany. To the eastward it ranges from 

 the Mediterranean to the Indian region, the north of China, and the Philippines, 

 in such districts as are suitable to its habits, but only breeds in the warmer 

 regions. Common and resident in Egypt, it appears to be mainly a winter 



GOLIATH HERON IN BREEDING PLUMAGE (\ nat. size). 



visitor to most other parts of Africa, although it is a permanent inhabitant of 

 certain marshy districts. The last member of this group of the genus we shall 

 notice is the goliath heron {A. goliath), of which the total length is about half as 

 much again as that of the common species. In this splendid bird the crest takes 

 the form of a number of moderately long pointed feathers. The head and crest, 

 the point of the shoulder, and the under-parts, with the exception of the white 

 throat, are reddish chestnut-brown ; the sides and back of the neck bright bluish 

 grey ; the upper-parts a more ashy gi'ey ; and the long loose plumes on the front 



