832 Birds of Celebes: Ardeidae. 



and Ceylon. Sharpe makes a clear distinction between his eastern and western 

 species, — the bill of the former is said to be yellow in summer and winter, 

 in the latter it is black in summer. Unfortunately this statement is not correct, 

 except as regards New Zealand. Stejneger (j 1) and Taczanowski (k 1) have 

 shown that in Japan and Corea the bill is black in the nuptial season ■ — some- 

 times, if not always. Sharp e's specimens from these regions are all in winter 

 (or young?) plumage, except one, which may not, when killed (April 22), yet 

 have assumed the black bill. 



The beautiful Great White Heron seeks its food in marshes and water 

 (preying on frogs, fish, worms, and such like). In all quarters (e. g. South 

 Africa, Ceylon, New Zealand, America) it is an extremely shy bird, and with 

 good reason, for few species have better cause to shun mankind, by whom its 

 wholesale destruction is brought about in the breeding season for the sake of 

 its dorsal feathers. In captivity the bird becomes very tame. Each of the or- 

 namental feathers consists simply of a long white shaft with the barbs separated, 

 lengthened and thread-like, growing alternately on either side at intervals of 

 about 4 mm; the barbules are to be seen with a magnifying glass on the sides 

 of the rami. On a long plume we find about 70 barbs on one side of the shaft; 

 on an ordinary contour- feather from the same region about 110 barbs, on a 

 second one about 120. It appears that the abnormal lengthening of the shaft 

 of the ornamental feather has been accompanied by a reduction in number of 

 the barbs (probably from the distal end of the feather). It is hard to imagine 

 how some of the feathers of the upper back, of all places, can have become 

 originally stimulated to such an aberrant increase in size; but the circumstance 

 that the Herons rest the head and long neck between the shoulders when in 

 flight and sleeping may possibly be worthy of mention in connection with it. 



^ 354. HERODIAS INTERMEDIA (Wagl.). 



Lesser White Egret. 



a. Ardea intermedia [Hasselt in lit.]; (1) "Wagl., Isis 1829, 659; (2) Schl., Mus. P.-B., Ardeae, 

 1863, 352; (3) Finscli & Hartl., Vog. N.-O. Afr. 1870, 686; {4) Rchw., J. f. O. 

 1877, 273; {5) Rosenb., Malay. Archip. 1878, 278; {6} id., Zool. Garten 1881, 167; 

 {!) W. Bias., J. f. 0. 1883, 126; {8} Vorderm., N. T. Ned. Ind. 1883, XLIO, 230; 

 (9) Seeb., E)is 1884, 268; (10) id., B.Japan 1890, 217; (11) Steere, List Coll. B. 

 & M. Philipp. 1890, 26; (12) Newton, Diet. B. 1893, 419, 



h. Ardea melanopus {1} Wagl., Isis 1829, 659. 



c. Ardea egrettoides {1) Temm. (nee Gm.), Man. d'Orn. IV, 314 (1840); {II} T. & Schl., 



Faun. Jap. Aves 1850, 115, pi. 69. 



d. Herodias plumiferus (1) Gould, P. Z. S. 1847, 221; {11) id., B. Austr. 1848, VI, pi. 57. 



e. Herodias flavirostris (Temm.) {1} Gray, List GraUae Br. Mus. 1844, 78. 



Herodias intermedia {1) Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. 1849, 279; {2} Swinh., P. Z. S. 1863, 

 319; {3) Salvad., Cat. Ucc. Borneo 1874, 348; {4) Hume, Str. F. 1874, n, 303; 



