130 
ARDEINJE. ERODIUS. 
Ardea purpurea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 236. — Ardea purpurea, 
Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 697. — Ardea purpurea, Temm. Man. | 
d’Ornith. ii. 570. — Ardea purpurea, Purple Heron, MacGil- 
livray, Brit. Birds, iv. 
GENUS CXYI. ERODIUS. EGRET. 
The Egrets differ from the Herons chiefly in being of a j 
more slender form, with the neck and legs extremely elon- 
gated, and the latter haying a larger portion of the tibia 
bare ; the bill more attenuated, with its dorsal line a little 
deflected toward the end. Many of the species are also j 
furnished with very long dorsal plumes, of which the fila- I 
ments are disunited. The genus, however, is not well de- 
fined, being blended with Ardea on the one hand, and Bo- 
taurus on the other. The bill is much longer than the head, 
strong, but rather slender, straight, compressed, tapering to 
a point ; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, until 
toward the end, when it is a little deflected, the ridge broad j 
and convex at the base, gradually narrowed, the nasal de- I 
pression narrow-oblong, with a groove extending to near the 
end, the sides convex, the edges sharp, often serrulate, with, 
a notch close to the tip, which is very acute ; lower man- 
dible with the angle very long and extremely narrow, the 
dorsal line ascending and almost straight, the sides concave, 
the edges direct, often serrulate, the tip acuminate ; gape- 
line straight. Mouth rather narrow, but extensile ; tongue 
long, slender, trigonal, tapering to a point ; oesophagus 
very wide in its whole length ; proventriculus dilated ; sto- I 
inach a hemispherical thin sac, with a round pyloric lobe ; I 
intestine very long, and extremely slender ; rectum with an j 
oblong coecum ; cloaca large and globular. Nostrils linear. 
Eyes rather small. Aperture of ear small, roundish. Legs 
extremely long, slender ; tibia bare for half its length, or 
more, covered with hexagonal scales ; tarsus very long, an- 
teriorly scutellate ; toes long, slender, scutellate above, flat- 
tened beneath ; the first large, the second a little shorter 
than the fourth, which is connected with the third by a basal 
web ; claws moderate, arched, compressed, acute, that of the 
middle toe with a serrated inner edge. Plumage soft and 
