HEBODIAS INTERMEDIA. 



(THE PLUMED EGRET.) 



Ardea intermedia (Hasselq.), Wagler, Tsis, 1829, p. 659; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, 



xiv. p. Ill ; Schlegel, Mus. P.-Bas, Ardece, p. 19 (1864); Von Heuglin, Orn. N.Ost- 



Afr! ii. p. 1065 (1873) ; Hume, Nest and Eggs, iii. p. 615 (1875). 

 Ardea egrettoides, Temm. Man. d'Orn. iv. p. 374 (1840). 

 Ardea plumifera, Gould, B. of Austr. vi. pi. 57 (1848). 

 Herodias intermedia (Wagl.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 279 (1849) ; Salvadori, Ucc. 



di Born. p. 348 (1874) ; David & Oust. Ois. de laCh. p. 440 (1877); Hume, Str. Feath. 



1879 (ListB. of Ind.), p. 114. 

 Herodias egrettoides (Temm.), Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 745 (1864) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, 



p. 477; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 30, et 1875, p. 407. 

 The Lesser Wliite Heron. Patangkha, Patokha bagla, Hind. ; Paru vallai koku, Ceylonese 



Tamils. 

 Hotta-kallu-koka, Layard (refers probably to next species), Sudu-koka, lit. " White Heron," 



Sinhalese. 



Characteristics. No crest : long dorsal train and long pectoral plumes in breeding-season. 



Adult male and female (South Ceylon). Length 25-75 to 26*1 inches ; wing 12-0 to 12*1 ; tail 4-75 to 5 - ; tarsus 4-5 ; 

 bare tibia 2-5; middle toe 3-1 to 3 - 2, its claw - 6 ; hind toe l - 4; bill to gape 3-7, at front 2-75. Claws acute, 

 pectination of middle toe shallow and wide. — Adidts (India and Andamans). Wing 11-1 to 12-65 ; tail 4-5 to 5-9 ; 

 tarsus 4-1 to 4-6 ; middle toe and claw 3-62 to 4-05 ; bill at front 2-68 to 3 - 05 {Hume). — Female. (Java) Wing 11-6 ; 

 tail 4-5 ; tarsus 4-0 ; middle toe 2-9 ; bill at front 3-0. — Male (Canton). Wing 11-6 ; tail 4-5 ; tarsus 4-3 ; bill at 

 front 2-85. — The bill is proportionally shorter in this species than in other white Egrets. 



Breeding-plumage. Iris golden yellow ; bill black ; legs and feet black ; tibia yellowish brown. 



(Canton) Entire plumage white ; dorsal train composed of long, pliable-shafted, highly decomposed feathers, the 



webs drooping, reaching 5J inches beyond the tail ; pectoral plumes of long, attenuated, and decomposed feathers 



5-1 inches in length. 



Winter plumage (Ceylon : November). Bill yellow, the tips dusky ; orbital skin greenish yellow ; legs and feet 

 entirely black. Entire plumage white, without the dorsal train and pectoral tuft. 



Young. The nestling is clothed with white down. 



Obs. As will be seen from the above measurements, Ceylonese specimens are not inferior in size to those from any 

 other part. According to data in Mr. Hume's useful table of Indian Egrets (Stray Feath. vi. p. 480), the dorsal 

 train extends 7 to 8 inches beyond the tail in some specimens. This, I presume, is exceptional, although it is 

 represented as of great length in Mr. Gould's plate of the Australian bird. Eemales from the Transvaal measure 

 in the wing 11-75 and 12-25. In a winter specimen (June) the tarsi and feet are noted as bluish. 



The American representative of this species is H. egretta, and has the bill yellow at all seasons. 



Distribution. — This Egret has much the same distribution in Ceylon as the last, and, though it will occur 

 in some tracts of country and not in others, is, I think, quite as numerous if not more so than its larger relative. 

 I found it common in extensive paddy-fields near Bolgodde lake in the Western Province, and also in the 

 Galle district, particularly in unfrequented fields in the heart of jungle. In the south-east I found it breeding 

 at Tissa Maha Rama, and noticed it in other places in the Hambantota district. In the Eastern Province it 

 occurs here and there ; and some white Egrets I met with flying over the elevated tract of country between 



7g2 



