ARDEA SPECIOSA. 
secondary fuiill feathers, have a diluted livid tint, inclining to brown, which gra- 
dually becomes fainter as the bird increases in age. The plumage on the wings, the 
tail, the lower part of the abdomen, the thighs, and the throat, are pure white. 
The feet are dark yellowish brown, and the tibia? naked, nearly half an inch above 
the tarsi. The crest consists of from four to six greatly lengthened linear plumes, 
of a very pure milk-white colour. The bill is dusky at the base; hence two-thirds 
of its length are pale yellowish white, and the tip is black. The irides are yellow. 
The plumes on the neck and back are divided into numerous greatly lengthened 
filiform barbs, resembling, in some measure, those of the Egret. The entire length 
of our bird is nineteen inches. 
Button's figure of the Crabier blanc et brim, exhibits the Blekko in its young 
state. After this period it assumes a different dress, the neck becomes rufous, and 
the long lax plumes w hich form the crest, distinctly shew themselves. The Javanese 
specimens differ from Button's figure in having black feet. 
The changes which the various species of Ardea undergo in their plumage, as 
they pass to the state of maturity, have been the cause of much inaccuracy and 
confusion in this genus, and in many instances the dress of the different ages of our 
bird has caused the description of a species. The labours of MM. Meyer and 
Temminck have pointed out many of these mistakes and rt double emplois.'* The 
Ardea malaccensis and the Ardea senegalensis, of the systems, both, according to 
M. Temminck, represent the same bird, which is shewn to be the young Blekko. 
Those Naturalists who do not admit the use of specific names of animals from the 
countries in which they have been discovered, will require no apology from me for 
abandoning the names of Malaccensis and Senegalensis, and for adopting a more 
appropriate denomination for a bird which is found in Senegal, in Malacca, in Java, 
and probably in various other parts of the East, and of which, as far as I have ascer- 
tained, the young bird only has been represented in an engraving. 
The Ardea speciosa lives, like other herons, near rivers and lakes, and feeds on 
fishes, insects, &c. In some parts of the Island it may be seen during the whole 
year ; but many tracts are only visited in the rainy season, when the inundation of 
the rice plantations invites it in great numbers. It forms its nests on shrubs and 
trees : the eggs are collected, and disposed of in the markets ; the flesh also is occa- 
sionally eaten by the natives. Our bird, if taken young, is easily domesticated, 
and is not unfrequently seen in this state, in the villages situated on the banks of 
rivers and lakes. 
