149 
Aote on the Hidification of Ardea goliath. 
By Masor E. A. Boriur, R. L. Rifles. 
On the 17th October 1881 I found a nest of the Giant 
Heron in Natal, about 10 miles east of Newcastle. I had 
visited the spot about the 7th of the month when the birds 
were just commencing to build, and as they rose upon that 
occasion very wild I mistook them for Grus (Paradisea) 
stanleyanus. On re-visiting the place, however, on the 17th 
instant, accompanied by my friend, Captain Reid, R.E., we 
approached the nest under cover of a low undulation in the 
ground which enabled us to get within about 70 yards of one 
of the birds which proved to belong to the present species. 
The nest was situated in the centre of an open valley, and 
placed on the top of a patch of green sedge beaten down by 
the wind and rain, and forming, as it were, a sort of small island 
some 40 or 50 yards from the side of the tank, being raised 
about two feet above the level of the water. It consisted of a 
dense mass of dry sedge and reeds lined with dark-colored 
sedge and a species of aquatic creeper, being about two feet in 
diameter and very flat on the surface and exposed to view 
from all sides. The male bird was sitting, and as we approached 
raised himself off the nest and walked slowly away in an erect 
attitude for a few yards before taking flight. After settling for 
a few minutes on a patch of open ground some hundred yards or 
so from the nest, watching our movements as we separated and 
tried to conceal ourselves in the low rushes close by, he rose 
and flew towards us, when R. fired a long shot, but without 
effect. He then flew off to a distance of 500 or 600 yards, 
alighting fortunately within gun-shot of the river bank, and 
affording an opportunity for a stalk, which R. promptly seized 
and brought him to bag. The shot only winged him, and as 
he became very savage, tearing up the grass with his bill, and 
showing every intention to fight to the last, R. had to despatch 
him with another cartridge. It was a fine bird measuring as 
follows :— 
Sex L. W. M Bf. Bg. Exp. 
2. 660... 25k SEAN aE! +920 874 
Legs and feet black; iris bright yellow; orbital skin, 
plumbeous. 
We did not see the hen bird ai all, but another Heron 
(A. cinerea) was feeding within a few yards of the nest when we 
first approached it. The eggs, three in number and quite fresh, 
were very large, but in other respects like the eggs of 
A. cinerea, though perhaps slightly coarser in texture, being 
broad ovals, slightly chalky in texture and of a pale bluish 
white or skim milk color. 
