COMMON HERON» 
deep black : the fore-part of the neck is adorned 
with large longitudinal spots of black and grey : 
the back and wings are blue-grey : the beak is 
deep yellow : the irides yellow : a naked skin 
about the eyes is of a bluish purple : the legs are 
brown, but the naked space above the knee is 
bright red. ^In addition to the above, the hind 
head is ornamented with several elongated narrow 
black feathers, the two middle of which are up- 
wards of eight inches in length ; the whole forms 
an elegant crest, which is dependent on the hind 
part of the neck: the feathers of the scapulars 
are also elongated, and fall over the back in fine 
disunited plumes. 
The young do not possess the crest, or the 
.elongated scapulary feathers : they have the fore- 
head and top of the head grey : the throat white : 
the neck bright grey, with several deeper spots : 
the back and the wings are blue-grey, varied with 
brown and whitish : the breast is longitudinally 
spotted : the upper mandible of the beak is dusky 
brown, spotted with yellow ; the under, yellow : 
irides the same : space round the eyes greenish 
yellow : the legs of a grey-black, with the naked 
space above the knee yellowish. 
This species has been observed nearly of a pure 
white, but this is of extremely rare occurrence : 
this variety may be easily distinguished from the 
young Ardea egretta, by the naked space above 
the knee, which is very large in the latter. 
The common Heron occurs throughout nearly 
the whole globe, retiring from tlie frigid regions 
