A R I ) E A PAC1 F I C A (Lath.) 



PACIFIC HERON. Genus: Ardea. 



!T would hi' inn >i rect t<> describe any of the Herons as migratory birds, for their habits are not sufficiently 

 fixed to be so classed, but they are nomadic, returning frequently to the same districts at the same 

 seasons year after year. Thus the Pacific Ileron is a summer visitant to the southern coasts of Australia, 

 whither it resorts for breeding purposes, returning northward as the shortening days warn it of the coming 

 winter. In New South Wales its visits depend largely upon the seasons. Should there be a wet season, 

 with an abundance of frogs, newts, and other aquatic insects, which it prefers to fish and crustaceans, it 

 may be found with certainty in the overflowing lagoons and rivers, for this is to it one of Pharaoh's fat 

 years ; but should a drought parch the land, then it will fly to a moister colony. Its usual practice is 

 to be content to wander from district to district in search of food, but, if necessary, it is capable of 

 performing very extensive journeys, 



The Pacific Heron is entirely an ornamental bird, both from the rich contrasting colours of its 



plumage and from the stableness and grace of its carriage. Like its congener, A. X<>r<v I/of/mx/ia-, this 



bird shows considerable variety of colouring in its plumage. In some the neck is entirely white, while in 

 others the centre part is spotted with black. 



The egg is oval, of a light bluish-green colour, with the surface a little rough. Length, 2 inches 

 lines : breadth, 1 inch 6 lines. 



The only difference between the sexes is the slightly smaller size of the female. 



(bad, neck, and elongated feathers of the breast, creamy-white, tinged with purplish-grey, the 

 throat marked with irregular black spots on the inner side; whole of upper surface, bluish-black, glossed 

 with green on the wings and tail ; under surface, chocolate-brown, each feather of the abdomen with a 

 broad stripe of white down the centre ; feathers of the breast and the elongated scapularies, deep purplish- 

 red, the tips and outer webs of some of the latter dull green ; shoulders and edge of the wings, pure 

 white : upper mandible, black ; lower part of the under mandible, yellowish-olive in some specimens, and 

 yellowish horn-colour in others; irides, sometimes primrose-yellow, sometimes very- dark brown; upper part 

 of the tarsi, yellowish-olive ; feet, black ; orbits, greenish-yellow, becoming more yellow immediately before 

 and round the eye. {Gould.) 



Habitats : Derby (N.W.A.), Port Darwin and Port Essington, Gult of Carpentaria, Rockingham 

 Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, Dawson River, G.B., Richmond and Clarence River Districts, 

 New South Wales, Interior, Victoria and South Australia, Tasmania, West and South-West Australia. 

 ( Ramsay.) 



