ARDEA PURPUREA. 201 



My earliest dates of arrival observed near Gibraltar were the 4th 

 of April 1870, 7th of April 1871, 25th of March 1872, 7th of 

 March 1874, 25th of March 1894. They are extremely abun- 

 dant and generally easy to get a shot at, being seldom found in 

 the open, but almost always among rushes or swampy jungle, 

 and are very rarely seen to perch on trees. There was, about 

 five miles from Gibraltar, beyond the First River (Guadarranque), 

 on the right of the road to Los Barrios, a leech-preserve, grandly 

 called the " laguna," perhaps two acres in extent and surrounded 

 by poplar trees. This swamp was a dense mass of tall rushes 

 (Juncus) springing up through masses of dead ones, the growth of 

 years past, all so matted and tangled together as to make it 

 very difficult to pass through them, more especially as the water 

 was in places up to one's armpits. This delightful spot was a 

 very favourite breeding-place of the Purple Heron ; where there 

 generally used to be three pairs nesting, also two nests of Marsh- 

 Harriers. 



These Herons commence to lay about the 13th of April, as a 

 rule depositing three eggs (rarely four), as the following few 

 instances of nests taken and seen will show: on the 21st of 

 April two nests one with four, one with three eggs, all fresh ; 

 on the 18th of April two nests one with one, the other with 

 three fresh eggs ; on the 6th May two nests one with three fresh 

 eggs, the other with three eggs hard sat-on. The nests, varying 

 much in size and consisting merely of a few dried rushes 

 collected together so as to form a sort of platform just clear of 

 the water, are generally twenty or thirty yards apart. The eggs 

 are light bluish green, similar to those of Ardea cinerea. 



It is rather remarkable that Purple Herons should generally 

 choose their building-places near to Marsh-Harriers, as the latter 

 repeatedly rob them of their eggs. Many a nest have I seen 

 with nothing but empty shells, the work of the egg-sucking 

 Harrier. 



Adult. Crown anl crest black, with purple sheen ; back, wings, and 



