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FAMILY XXXVIII.— ARDEINJE. HERONS. 



Bill longer than the head, stout, tapering, compressed, pointed, its edges 

 often irregularly serrate. Head oblong, compressed; neck very long; body 

 much compressed. Eyes large or moderate. Nostrils basal, linear, longi- 

 tudinal. Legs long, rather slender; tibia bare to a great extent; tarsus 

 compressed, anteriorly scutellate; toes rather long, the first on the same 

 place, of moderate size, the outer toe a little longer than the inner, and with 

 a slight web at the base; all compressed and scutellate. Claws rather long, 

 arched, compressed, acute, that of the hind toe larger and more curved. 

 Plumage blended. Wings long, very broad, with the outer four quills 

 longest, secondaries very long. Tail very short, nearly even, of twelve 

 rather weak feathers. (Esophagus very wide, without dilatation; stomach 

 small, very thin, with the inner coat soft and smooth; intestine very long 

 and extremely narrow; no coecal appendages, but the large intestine forming 

 a small sac at its commencement; cloaca very large, globular. Trachea 

 simple, generally cylindrical, with the bronchi wide, and a single pair of 

 slender inferior laryngeal muscles. Nests large, flat, widely constructed, 

 placed on trees, bushes, sometimes on the ground; eggs from three to four, 

 oval, light blue. Young remain in the nest until fledged. 



Genus I.— ARDEA, Linn. HERON. 



Night Herons. Bill slightly longer than the head, stout, tapering, 

 compressed, with the upper outline somewhat curved; legs of moderate 

 length, bare part of tibia short; neck thick; body full; features of the neck 

 elongated and curved backwards. 



Vol. VI. 12 



