658 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY. Vol. XXVII I. 
220o Common Heron. Ardea cinerea. 
Ardea cinerea cinerea, L. (Syst. Nat. Ed. x, p. 143, 1758 — Europe). 
The majority of this species are no doubt winter visitors, but a number may be 
met with during the summer months in suitable places such as the marshes at 
Museyib, etc. As this heron docs not breed in its first year doubtless many of 
these are non-breeding biids ; though no nests were reported yet it is quite possi- 
ble some may breed in these extensive swamps, indeed Gumming had eggs brought 
to him at Fao said to have been taken on the Abdulla Banks ; they may have 
come from there or perhaps the marshes on the Koweit side ; Logan Home thought 
it might nest on the cliffs at Tekrit as he saw birds in the vicinity from April to 
June but no definite evidence was forthcoming. It is common in winter and 
widely distributed. Probably a certain number are passage migrants as Chees- 
man saw a flock pass over Shaiba, an oasis well out in the Arabian desert, on 
September 16th flying S. W, which direction would take them towards the 
centre of the Arabian continent. 
One skin examined : L. Akkarkuf, 12-8-17 (C. R. P.). 
221. Purple Heron. Ardea purpurea. “ErKheawwi.” 
Ardea purpurea purpurea,, L. (Syst. Nat. Ed. xii, p. 236, 1766— East 
Europe ? ) 
The Purple Heron is reported in all months of the year as common and it 
probably is quite resident. We have however no definite information of its 
nesting and yet one can haidly doubt its doing so with such extensive marshes 
at hand so eminently suited to its requirements. It is reported as common in 
the breeding season in the marshes of the Amara-Kurna district and at Museyib. 
Pitman remarks that this species is not so common as cinerea, but where it is 
found, it swarms ; there are naturally many places where the latter may be found 
which do not suit the Purple Heron, which likes lakes and swamps with plenty 
of cover in the way of reeds and rushes. 
One bird was found which, in trjdng to swallow a three-quarter pound fish, 
had become hors de combat through partial suffocation ; however much 
smaller ‘ fry ’ does not come amiss as Buxton found a dragon fly of the genus 
Anax in the gullet of one he shot. 
Gumming obtained eggs at Fao which were said, like all his eggs of the 
Ardeidce, to have been taken near the Abdulla Banks, presumably from the 
marshes on the Koweit side. 
Ten skins examined ; ^ , Kurna, June 1916 (F Wall) ; Qalet Saleh, 7-7-17 
(Elmhurst) ; L. Akkarkuf, 26-7-17, 26-8-17, 21-8-17 (G. R. P.) ; five, Amara 
(P. A. B.) 
222. Goliath Heron. Ardea goliath cretzschm. 
Ardea goliath cretzschm (Ruppel’s Atlas Reise n. Afr. Vog., p. 39, 1826). 
In the extensive swamps of Mesopotamia this gigantic Heron is not imcommon 
and evidently resident. It is reported from the marshes that lie between Basra 
and Kurna, from those near Amara and Kut and round the Euphrates Barrage, 
while there are odd records from Feluja and Samarra. Sir Percy Gox obtained 
young ones from the marshes at Kurna and sent them alive to the Bombay Natu- 
ral History Society. Buxton remarks that in the field this species much more 
resembles the Purple than the Gommon Heron. 
This is one of those species which Africa may be said to have contributed to 
the Mesopotamian fauna, it is found throughout tropical Africa outside of which 
it is only known in Geylon and parts of eastern India, where it is rare and sjioradic, 
a very curious distribution. 
223. Reef Heron. Demiegretta asha. 
Demiegretta asha (Sykes). (P. Z. S., 1832, p. 157, W. Goast of India). 
