Genus AEDEA. 
Bill long and pointed, the culmen nearly straight ; the gonys well defined and one third the 
length of the bill from the gape ; naral groove pronounced ; loral region bare. Wings 
lengthened ; the 2nd and 3rd quills subequal and longest, the 1st less than the 4th ; inner webs 
of quills notched. Tail short. Legs very long ; tibia naked far above the knee ; tarsal scales 
broad and transverse, but angulated at the sides ; toes lengthened, inner toe considerably shorter 
than the outer ; the web between the outer and middle toe well developed ; claws curved, the 
middle finely pectinated. 
Head crested ; scapulars elongated, but not “ decomposed lower neck-feathers in front 
elongated. 
AEDEA GOLIATH. 
(THE GIANT HERON.) 
Ardea goliat (Temm.*), Riippell, Atlas Reise nordl. Afr., Vogel, pi. 26 (1826) ; Temm. PI. Col. 
v. pi. 474, 80 e livraison (1829) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 278 (1849) ; Jerdon, B. 
of Ind. iii. p. 739 (1864); Von Heuglin, Orn. N.Ost-Afr. ii. p. 1048 (1873); Hume, 
Str. Feath. 1878, vii. p. 490, et 1879, p. 114 (List B. of Ind.). 
Ardea nohilis, Blyth, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xiii. p. 175 (1844). 
Biesenreiher, German ; El mireh, Arabic. 
Note. The bill is slightly curved upwards in this species. 
Adult female (Kirinde, Ceylon). Length 53'0 inches; wing 22-0 ; tail 9-5; bare tibia 5-75; tarsus 9‘0 : middle toe 
6-0; hind toe 5-3; bill to gape 9-0, at front 7 '35 : weight 10 lbs. {Bligh, in epist Adult. (India, Ind. Mus.) 
Wing 24-0; tail 9-0; tarsus 9-5; bare tibia 5-0; middle toe 5-8; bill to gape 9-7, at front 8T. (N.E. Africa) 
Length 49-32 to 52-41 ; wing 20-5 to 21-0 ; tail 8-0 ; bare tibia 5-0 to 5-75 ; tarsus 8-0 to 9-0 ; bill at front 
6-57 to 7-42. 
Adult (living, Zoological Gardens). Iris yellow, with a reddish margin ; bill dark slaty, under mandible fleshy, with a 
dark margin ; legs and feet dark slaty blackish, edges of scutes whitish ; eyelid pale slaty. 
(India Mus.) Head (and crest 4| inches in length) cinnamon-reddish ; forehead and lores slaty ; hind neck and sides of 
neck paler cinnamon than the head ; upper surface and wings slaty bluish ; basal portion of wing-covert feathers 
rusty red ; greater coverts tinged with reddish ; primary shafts blackish ; tail slaty bluish ; chin and upper throat 
white; fore neck down the centre slaty black and white, the feathers tinged with rufous, the central feathers are 
white, with slaty black edges ; elongated feathers of the lower neck white tinged with rufeseent, with slaty brown 
lateral stripes ; feathers of the chest, breast, and underparts dusky cinnamon-rufous, many of the feathers whitish 
at the edges ; the tufts at the side of the chest darker than the rest ; under wing dusky cinnamon-rufous the 
edge whitish ; thighs reddish, tipped with slaty ; under tail-coverts reddish ashy. 
An African specimen, now living in the Zoological Gardens, from which the description of the soft parts is taken, 
* Temminck’s description (80th livraison PI. Col.) to accompany his figure of this species (pi. 474), and at the head of 
which he bestowed his title of goliat , was not published until 1829, as will bo seen by reference to the dates of publi- 
cation of the different livraisons. At the end of the article he remarks that an account of another specimen is to be 
published (“ sera public”) by Herr Riippell; and this appeared, if we are to place any dependence on dates, in 1826, three 
years prior to Temminck’s description. I conclude that the latter author communicated to Riippell the name he had 
applied to the species, and that the German made use of it. Re this as it may, Riippell s account was first published. 
