PURPLE HERON. 473 



ARDEA PURPUREA. 

 PURPLE HERON. 



(Plate 38.) 



Ardea purpurascens, j 



Ardea cristata purpurascens, > Briss. Orn. v. pp. 420, 424, 455 (1760). 



Ardea botauxus major, ) 



Aidea purpurea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 236 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimoriim — 



Temminck, Naumann, Bonaparte, Dresser, &c. 

 Ardea rufa, i ^^^ j. ^^^ _^^^ g- gg „^gg 



Ardea variegata, I . 



Ardea caspia, Omel. Jieise Russl. ii. p. 193, pi. 24 (1774). 

 Ardea rutila, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 291 (1787). 

 Ardea botaurua, I ^^^^ _^^^ ._ gg g^^ ^^^gg^^ 



Ardea purpurata, i 



Aidea easpica, Turton, Brit. Fauna, i. p. 54 (1807). 



Ardea monticola, Lapeyrouse, Tab. des Ois., fide Wagl. Syst. Av. Ardea, no. 6 

 ' (1827). 

 Ardea pharaonica, Bonap. Consp. ii. p. 113 (1857). 



There is no reliable evidence that the Purple Heron has ever bred in 

 this country, and it must be regarded as a somewhat rare straggler, 

 principally to the eastern and southern counties of England, though it has 

 been obtained twice in Scotland and once in Ireland. Of the Scotch 

 specimens one was killed in Caithness, and the other in Aberdeenshire in 

 March, whilst the Irish example was taken near Carrickmacross in 

 Monagan. 



The range of the Purple Heron is almost as great as that of the Common 

 Heron, except that it does not extend so far north. The bird is a summer 

 visitor to the Spanish peninsula, the south of France, Italy, Central and 

 Southern Germany, the valley of the Danube, the extreme south of 

 Russia, Greece, and Asia Minor, and occasionally wanders into North 

 France, Holland, Belgium, and North Germany, but has only once been 

 found in Scandinavia. It is said to be a resident in Sicily and Palestine 

 and in most parts of Africa, including Madagascar, its numbers in those 

 countries being increased during winter. It is said to be found in 

 Damara Land at all seasons of the year, and is very common at the Cape, 

 although it has not actually been found breeding there, but its eggs have 

 been taken in the Transvaal. Eastwards it breeds in Persia, Turkestan, 

 India, Ceylon, and Burma, It also occurs, and may probably breed, in 

 Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and the Philippine Islands. It has been 

 met with, though very rarely, in various parts of China ; and Finsch and 



