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PURPLE HERON. 
having a greenish tint on the lues and near the 
gape. The irides are bright gamboge-yellow. On 
the fore part of the breast there are two patches 
of a thick yellow down, concealed by the other 
plumes, and which we find more or less in all the 
Herons. This is jointed in its structure, and 
would appear to be connected with the habits of 
this tribe of birds. 
In the birds of immature plumage, we have the 
blackish-grey colour predominating, with a consi- 
derable tinge of brown, no white in the crown, 
which gradually shades into black on the occiput, 
the feathers there lengthening, but without chang- 
ing into the narrow form of those in the adults. 
We have also no elongation on the back or lower 
part of the neck, and the white, in the centre of 
the breast and belly, is bordered only with black- 
ish-grey. 
The Purple Heron, Ardea purpurea. — A. 
purpurea, Linn. — Heron pourpre, Temm. — Pur- 
ple Heron, Purple-crested Heron, Crested Purple 
Heron, African Heron of British authors. — This 
beautiful Heron has been sufficiently often killed 
in England, to entitle it to the rank of a frequent 
occasional visitant. Its range in our islands, 
however, is confined to the south, for we know 
of no instance of its occurrence in Scotland, and 
Mr. Thompson has recorded its appearance in 
Ireland only once. We possess one native spe- 
