AEDEA GULARIS. 1137 



Obs. ^ The Australian and Oceanic bird (Ardea sacra, Gnielin), which inhabits the Malay archipelago and the islands 

 in the Bay of Bengal, differs from the present in having merely a narrow stripe of white down the chin and upper 

 throat, which in some specimens is almost wanting. It is shorter in the leg, and the tibia is much more 

 feathered, the bare portion in Andaman specimens varying from 1-05 to 1-5 inch, wing 9*85 to 11-75, tarsus 

 2-7 to 3-1 {Hume). There is a white form in this species as in A. gularis. Messrs. Hume and Davison met 

 with it in the Andamans, and Messrs. Einsch and Hartlaub in the Pacific. 



Distribution.— So far as I have ascertained, this Heron is confined to the north of Ceylon and the west 

 coast from Manaar down to Colombo. I have not seen it on the eastern side of the island or in the extreme 

 south. Layard procured it from the island of Valenny, near Jaffna, and from a lake near Chilaw (where he 

 found it breeding), and got one specimen on the Colombo Lake. I met with a small flock on the sands at 

 Long Island, at the mouth of the Jaffna Lake, in March ; there were several white birds among them, which I 

 take to have been of the same species. A few days afterwards I saw two or three at Manaar ; but did not 

 meet with the bird again in any of my wanderings. 



On the mainland it appears to be confined to the west coast of the peninsula, taking also the Laccadives 

 into its range, at which group it was noticed by Mr. Hume at Betra Par. There is no reason why it should 

 not extend up the east coast as far as the district opposite Jaffna, as it has been procured lower down near 

 Tinuevelly. It has been obtained at Teetul, near Bombay, and in the harbour as well. In the Deccan Sykes 

 procured it about 200 miles inland. Further north it is very abundant in Kurrachee harbour, about the 

 mouths of the Indus and the adjacent creeks, has been obtained in Northern Guzerat near the Runn, and is 

 common all along the coasts of this district and along the Mekran coast to Muscat, as far as which point 

 Mr. Hume has observed it. It probably occurs along the shores of Arabia; for Von Heuglin found it common 

 in the Gulf of Aden and along the coasts of the Red Sea as far north as the tropic, beyond which, to the Gulf 

 of Suez, it is a straggler. On the east coast of the continent of Africa it has been met with at Zanzibar, 

 Mozambique, the Comoro Islands, and also on the coast of Madagascar, in which island Mr. Newton says it is 

 not uncommon. At the Cape it does not seem to have been noticed ; but on the west coast it has been 

 procured at St. Thomas's and Prince's islands, at Aguapim, on the Gold Coast, and in Senegambia. 



Habits. — This Heron is almost entirely a littoral species, being found along the open coast and in 

 harbours and bays, and especially affects coral reefs where these abound. In other localities, where there are 

 sand banks and mud flats, it is to be found feeding at the edge of these, or on the ooze left bare by the tide. 

 The flock I met with at Jaffna were busily attacking a quantity of fish which were hemmed in in a large 

 stake-net on the sand just being left bare by the tide. They did not permit of a near approach, but rose at a 

 very long shot with a flight similar to that of the smaller Egrets. Mr. Hume notices that the blue birds are 

 far less shy than the white ones, as if these latter were conscious that they were more visible than their fellows, 

 and that it was dangerous to allow themselves to be approached. He suggests that originally, when perhaps 

 the species had not taken to frequenting open shores, all the birds were white, and that a marked change in 

 diet might have produced the dusky tints. This species feeds on fish, crabs, small Crustacea, and mollusca. 

 Von Heuglin mentions that they are about at nights when there is moonlight, or when the tides are low. 



Nidification. — Layard found this Reef-Heron breeding near Chilaw in the months of May and June. He 

 styles the nest a *' huge structure of sticks placed in trees by the water's side," and says the eggs are from 

 four to six in number, rounded ovals, and of a pale blue colour. Axis 1 inch 10 lines (1*82), diam. 1 inch 

 5 lines (1*41). Von Heuglin found it nesting on the western coast of the Red Sea in the Dahlak archipelago, 

 the nests being placed both on boulders, in clefts of rocks, and on small trees and bushes, those growing in 

 shallow water being preferred ; the nests were placed at heights varying from 3 to 10 feet. Some of the nests 

 were lined with feathers and pieces of seaweed, and the eggs were three or four in number, of a pale green 

 colour, and in shape somewhat compressed at both ends. In length they varied from 1*68 to 1*82, and in 

 breadth from 1*16 to 1*25 inch. 



