GRALLATORIZA. 335 
(The purple Heron.) Grey and red, or purple; belongs also to 
"Europe. 
The name of Cras-raters, (Crabiers,) has been applied to the 
smallest Herons, with shorter feet. The species most common in 
France, and found in its mountain districts, is, 
Ard. minuta and danubialis, Gm.; Le Blongios; Enl. 323; 
Frisch, 207; Naum. Ed. I, 28, f. 37. Fawn coloured; calotte, back, 
and quills black. It is hardly larger than a Rallus, and frequents 
the vicinity of ponds. 
The OnoreEs, to the form of the Crabeaters, add the size of the true 
Heron, and the colour of the bitterns*. 
The Ecrers are Herons whose feathers, on the lower part of the 
back, at a certain period become long and attenuated. 
The most beautiful species, whose feathers are employed for the pur- 
pose which the name of these birds indicates, are: 
Ard. garzettu, Enl. 901. (The little Egret.) But half the size 
of the Heron. It is all white, and its slender feathers do not ex- 
tend beyond the tail. 
Ard. alba, Enl. 886. (The Great Egret.) This one is also en- 
tirely white, but larger. Both these species are found in Europe; 
there is a third, whose tarsi are shorter, and whose attenuated fea- 
thers extend considerably beyond the tail; it is the drd. egretta, 
Enl. 925 }. 
We have also thought it proper to approximate to the Egrets the 
Ard. comata, Gm.; Enl. 348; Naum. Ed. I, 22, f. 45. (The 
Crab-eater of Mahon.) A bird of southern Europe, with a reddish- 
brown back, and wings, belly, and tail, white. The adult has a 
yellowish neck, and a long tuft on the occiput f. 
The feathers on the neck of the Birrerns are loose and separated, 
which increases its apparent size. They are usually spotted or striped. 
trix, T. Col. 271;—A. ludoviciana, Gm. Enl. 909, from which the 4. virescens does 
not specifically differ; —4. Nove-Guine, Lath. Enl. 926, approaches somewhat to the 
A. scolopacea, Gm. in the bill. 
* A. lineata, Gm. Enl, 860;—A. tigrina, Id. Enl. 790, which appears to be the 
young of 4. flava, Gm. 
{+ Temminck thinks that the 4. alba is the young of the 4. egretta, and that the 
pl. Enl. 901, does not represent the Little Egret of Europe, but that of America. 
{ From the exact observations of Meyer, the 4. castanea, Gm. or the rallotdes, 
Scopol.;—A. squaiotta ;—A. Marsiglii;—A. pumila, and even A. erythropus, and A. ma- 
laccensis, Gm. Enl. 911, are all mere varieties, or different ages of the Crab-eater of 
Mahon, or 4. comala. The A. senegalensis, Enl. 315, is also a young offspring of the 
same bird. It is perhaps the true Crane of the Balearic Islands of Pliny, XJ, 37. 
Add, A. candidissima, Wils. LXIII, 4;—the Garde beeuf, A. bubuleus, Savign. Eg. 
Ois., pl. viii;—<d. leucocephala, Gm. Enl. 910;—A. jugularis, Forster, or gularis, 
Bosc., Act. de la Soc. d’Hist. Nat. fol. pl. ii. or aibicollis, Vieill. Galer. 253;—A. 
eerulea, Enl. 349, of which the 4. equinoctialis, Catesb. may probably be the young, 
notwithstanding the difference of colour;—<. rufescens, Gm. Enl. 902;—A. leucogaster, 
Enl. 350;—<A. agami, Enl. 859 (a). 
(a) RRS" Add 4. Pealii, Bonap. and R, ludoviciana, Wils. VIII, pl. lxiv, f. 1. 
~~Ena. Ep. ] 
