ARDEIDAE 



93 



in most cases, developed in the nuptial period, and the scapular 

 and jugular feathers are elongated, though not decomposed. The 

 Common Heron (A. cinerea), ranging through Europe, Africa, and 

 Asia, to Japan and Australia, needs no description, but the Purple 

 Heron, A. (Fhoyx) jnirpurea, though it often occurs in Britain, is 

 less well known. It is grey, with black crown and black stripes 

 down the sides of the buff neck, chestnut scapulars, rufous, grey, 

 and black jugular plumes, and maroon breast ; the range being from 

 Central and Southern Europe to South Africa, China, and the 

 Philippines. A. hcrudius of North America meets in northern 



South America the white-necked A. cocoi, both species resembling 



A. cinerea, but the 



former having rufous 



thighs and edge of the 



wing. The white A. 



occidentalis, of Florida 



and Cuba,'' was for- 

 merly thought to be 



an instance of dichro- 



matism. The African 



A. goliath has the 



head and neck rufous 



and the under surface 



chiefly maroon. 



The sexes are 



usually alike ; but the 



female has ordinarily 



shorter plume.s, and 



may be duller, as may 



the young, though 



the stages of plumage 



are not yet com- 

 pletely worked out. 



"White or rufous mark- 

 ings are often noticeable, especially in immature specimens of 



Ardea; there is little red about the head in those oi Dichromanassa, 



though in Hydranassa the amount is greater than in the adult ; 



those of Florida are generally very white ; and, conversely, white 



1 Eidgway, Manual K. Amer. Birds, 1887, p. 128. A. wurdemanni of Florida 

 is a close ally. 



Fig. 27. — Whale-liead or Shoe-bill. Balaenicejos rex. 



