ARDEA PURPUREA. 
(THE PURPLE HERON.) 
Ardea purpurea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 236 (1766); Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 278 
(1849); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 110; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. 
p. 743 (1864); Layard, B. of S. Afr. p. 306 (1867); Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 477; 
Heuglin, Orn. N. Ost-Afr. ii. p. 1051 (1873) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1878 (B. of Tenass.), 
p. 472, et 1879 (List B. of Ind.), p. 114 ; Salvadori, Uccelli di Born. p. 345 (1874) ; 
Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 30, et 1875, p. 403 ; id. J. A. S. (Ceylon Branch), p. 55 (1875); 
Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 611 (1875); Dresser, B. of Eur. pt. 43, 44 (1875); David 
& Oust. Ois. de la Chine, p. 438 (1877). 
Garpa, Portuguese ; p urper Reiger, roode Reiger, Dutch. Nari, Hind. ; Lal-kank, in Bengal ; 
Changa ulu, Java (Horsf.) ; Balakolcan, Borneo ; Pamula nari gadu, Tamil; Sannarg, 
Tamil. 
Karawal-JcoJca , Sinhalese. 
Adult male and female (Ceylon). Length 38'0 to 39-0 inches ; wing 14 - 5 to 14-8, expanse 55'3 ; tail 5-0 to 5-5 : 
tarsus 5-2 to 5-5 ; bare tibia 3 - 5 ; middle toe (with claw) 5 - 0 to 5-5 ; hind toe (with claw) 3 - o ; bill to gape 6T 
to 6'2, at front 5‘0 to 6‘1: weight 2|lbs. (India) Length 36' 0 to 42’0 ; wing 15‘5, expanse 58 - 0; tail 5’75 ; 
bill at front 5'39 ; tarsus 5 - 25 ; middle toe 5-5 ( Jerdon , who states that some birds are much smaller). — Male 
(England, Brit. Mus.). Wing 14'6 ; tail 5-5 ; tarsus 4'9 ; middle toe 4'3 ; bill at front 4’9. — Female. Wing 
14'0 ; tarsus 4' 3 ; bill at front 4-3. — Male (Java). Wing 14-3 ; tarsus 5'0 ; middle toe 4'3 ; bill at front 4-9. 
Note. This Heron is remarkable for the great length of its toes. 
Iris pale clear yellow, gamboge-yellow in some ; loral skin and base of lower mandible yellowish green ; upper mandible 
dusky yellowish brown, with the margin yellowish ; lower mandible yellowish ; tibia and inner edge of tarsus with 
the soles citron-yellow, rest of tarsus and feet wood-brown. 
Adult female (Ceylon, February). Head, nape, with crest of several long feathers glossy black, passing down the hind 
neck in a stripe for about half its length ; a black streak from the gape beneath the eye passing over the ears and 
joining the black of the nape ; another black stripe passing from the cheeks down the side of the neck to the 
elongated neck-plumes, and a pure black streak down the fore neck ; lower part of hind neck, back, and w’ing- 
eoverts bluish slate, tinged with greenish brown on the interscapulary region ; upper scapulars with the webs open 
and elongated, the terminal portion cinnamon-red ; primaries and their coverts, as also the winglet, blackish slate ; 
secondaries paler ; tail dark slate ; chin and upper part of throat white ; face, sides of neck, fore neck between 
the stripes, and many of the feathers of the lower neck-plumes cinnamon-rufous, palest above the eye, leaving a 
white streak next the black cap; the longer feathers of the neck-plumes white, striped with black in continuation 
of the neck-feathers ; sides of the chest and breast dull maroon-red ; centre of the breast, the abdomen, and under 
tail-coverts blackish slate tinged with ashy ; thighs light ferruginous ; flanks and axillaries bluish slate ; under 
wing, together with the point and edge along the ulna, light ferruginous. 
In a male (December) the occipital feathers are longer and the scapulars are purplish and ashy red, being more richly 
coloured than in the above female ; the sides of the head behind the eye are white and not tinged with rufous. 
Young, on leaving the nest (Female, Kodiyam Kulam). Wing 11-0 inches (quills not grown) ; tail 4-0; tarsus 4-5 ; 
middle toe 4-0 ; bill at front 3 - 7, blunt at tip, the gonys only 1’0 in length. 
Iris bright clear yellow ; orbital skin yellowish green ; upper mandible dark brown, with a yellow line running forward 
from the eye ; under mandible saffron-yellow ; tibia and knee greenish yellow ; tarsus and toes in front olive- 
brown, posteriorly yellowish. 
Crown and nape black ; sides of the head and upper part of the neck rich glossy cinnamon-rufous, changing gradually 
into slaty brown on the hind neck, and thence into glossy green-brown on the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, 
