HERODIAS GARZETTA. 



(THE LITTLE EGRET.) 



Ardea garzetta, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 237 (1766); Gould, B. of Europe, iv. pi. 277 (1848); 



Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. Ill ; Von Heuglin, On. N.O.-Afr. ii. 



p. 1067 (1873) ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 616 (1875). 

 Ardea nigrirostris, J. E. Gray, Zool. Miscell. p. 19 (1831). 

 Ardea nigripes, Ternm. Man. d'Orn. iv. p. 377 (1840). 

 Herodias garzetta (Linn.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 279 (1849); Jerdon, B. of Intl. 



iii. p. 746 (1864) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 477 ; Legge, Ibis, 1872, p. 30, et 1875, 



p. 403 ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. Sydney (List Austr. B.), p. 23 (1877) ; Hume, Str. 



Feath. 1878 (B. of Tenass.), p. 476, et 1879 (List B. of Ind.), p. 114 ; David & Oustalet, 



Ois. de la Chine, p. 440 (1877). 

 Little Egret, Lath. ; La Petite Aigrette, Cuv. ; White Heron, Black-hilled Heron, Paddy-bird. 



Europeans in Ceylon. Beiadi, Arabic (Von Heuglin) ; Ivilchia, Hind. (Jerdon). 

 Sudu-Jioka, Sinhalese, lit. "White Heron." Garga, Portuguese. 



Characteristics. Crest, dorsal train {curved up at the end), and pectoral plumes in the breeding-season ; bill 

 black at all seasons. 



Adult male (Ceylon). Length 25'0 to 26-0 inches; wing 11-0 to 11"6 ; tail 4-0; tarsus 4-0 to 4-4 ; bare tibia 2-0 ; 

 middle toe 2-7, claw 0*5 ; bill to gape 4-0 to 4-2, at front 3 - 6. — Female. Length 22-5 to 23-0 inches ; wing 105 

 to 10-8 ; tarsus 3 - 8 ; pectination of middle claw deep and angulated. — Adult. (India, Andamans) Length 23*0 to 

 26-0 inches; wing 9-8 to 1L4 ; tarsus 3-7 to 4-5 ; bill at front 3-1 to 3-6 {Hume). (China) Wing 10*8 to 11-2 

 inches ; tarsus 4-0 to 4-2; bill to gape 3-8 to 4-0. (N.E. Africa) Length 24-0 to 24-13 inches; wing 10-0 to 

 10'5 ; tarsus 3 - 84 to 4-19 ; bill at front 3-15 to 3-38 {Von Heuglin). (Europe) Wing 11-5 to 12-07 inches ; tarsus 

 3-85 to 4-39 ; bill at front 3-3 to 3-7 {Schleyel). (S. Africa) Wing 12-0 inches {Layard). 



/. , ding-plumage (Ceylon). Iris golden yellow ; loral skin and gape greenish yellow; bill entirely black ; legs black : 

 feet and lower part of tarsus greenish yellow ; claws black. The tips of the toes are sometimes black, and the 

 green ascends the tarsus less in some than in others. 



IMumage entirely white ; a dorsal train of decomposed feathers, with the barbs very long, and the tip of the shaft, 

 which is as fine as the barbs, curved up and reaching about one inch beyond the tail ; an occipital crest of two 

 attenuated feathers 5 inches in length ; lower neck-plumes composed of highly attenuated feathers 4| to 5 inches 

 in length. 



An example from Amoy has the crest G-5 inches in length. 



Winter plumage. Base of the bill beneath whitish ; crest and dorsal train wanting ; pectoral plumes not so elongated. 



The breeding-plumage is put on in Ceylon about October or November, and worn till about March ; some examples 

 which I have shot in January have not had the crest, aud may be perhaps yearling birds. 



Young. Covered as nestlings with white down, and in first plumage white, without the pectoral plumes. 



Obs. Considerable difference in size exists in this Egret ; but birds from all parts are clearly referable to only one 

 species. The largest dimensions, it will be seen, are those of European and South -African birds. 



H. eulophotes, Svvinhoe, found in China, and ranging into Malacca and Tenasserim, is a smaller species than the present, 

 and differs from it notably in having the bill yellow iu the breeding-season aud black in the winter. An Amoy 



