HERODI AS INTERMEDIA. 
(THE PLUMED EGRET.) 
Ardea intermedia (Hasselq.), Wagler, Isis, 1829, p. 659; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, 
xiv. p. Ill ; Schlegel, Mus. P.-Bas, Ardece, p. 19 (1864); Von Heuglin, Orn. N.Ost- 
Afr. ii. p. 1065 (1873) ; Hume, Nest and Eggs, iii. p. 615 (1875). 
Ardea egrettoides, Temm. Man. d’Orn. iv. p. 374 (1840). 
Ardea plumif era, Gould, B. of Austr. vi. pi. 57 (1848). 
Ilerodias intermedia (Wagl.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 279 (1849); Salvadori, Ucc. 
di Born. p. 348 (1874); David & Oust. Ois. de laCh. p. 440 (1877); Hume, Str. Eeath. 
1879 (List B. of Ind.), p. 114. 
Ilerodias egrettoides (Temm.), Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 745 (1864) ; Iloldsw. P. Z. S. 1872, 
p. 477 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 30, et 1875, p. 407. 
The Lesser White Heron. Patangkha, PatoJcha bagla. Hind. ; Pam vallai Tcoku, Ceylonese 
Tamils. 
Hotta-kallu-koka, Layard (refers probably to next species), Sadu-koka, lit. “ White Heron,” 
Sinhalese. 
Characteristics. No crest .- long dorsal train and long pectoral plumes in breeding -season. 
Adult male and female (South Ceylon). Length 25-75 to 26-1 inches ; wing 12-0 to 12-1 ; tail 4-75 to 5-0 ; tarsus 4-5 ; 
bare tibia 2-5; middle toe 3T to 3-2, its claw (HI ; hind toe 1-4; bill to gape 3*7, at front 2-75. Claws acute, 
pectination of middle toe shallow and wide. — Adults (Lidia and Andamans). Wing 11T to 12-65 ; tail 4-5 to 5-9 ; 
tarsus 4-1 to 4-6 ; middle toe and claw 3‘62 to 4-05 ; bill at front 2-68 to 3-05 (Hume). — Female. (Java) Wing 11-6 ; 
tail 4-5 ; tarsus 4-0 ; middle toe 2'9 ; bill at front 3-0. — Male (Canton). Wing 11-6 ; tail 4-5 ; tarsus 4-3 ; bill at 
front 2-85. — The bill is proportionally shorter in this species than in other white Egrets. 
Breeding-plumage. Iris golden yellow ; bill black ; legs and feet black ; tibia yellowish brown. 
(Canton) Entire plumage white ; dorsal train composed of long, pliable-shafted, highly decomposed feathers, the 
webs drooping, reaching 5^ inches beyond the tail ; pectoral plumes of long, attenuated, and decomposed feathers 
51 inches in length. 
Winter plumage (Ceylon : November). Bill yellow, the tips dusky ; orbital skin greenish yellow ; legs and feet 
entirely black. Entire plumage white, without the dorsal train and pectoral tuft. 
Young. The nestling is clothed with white down. 
Ohs. As will be seen from the above measurements, Ceylonese specimens are not inferior in size to those from any 
other part. According to data in Mr. Hume’s useful table of Indian Egrets (Stray Eeath. vi. p. 480), the dorsal 
train extends 7 to 8 inches beyond the tail in some specimens. This, I presume, is exceptional, although it is 
represented as of great length in Mr. Gould’s plate of the Australian bird. Eemales from the Transvaal measure 
in the wing 11-75 and 12-25. In a winter specimen (June) the tarsi and feet are noted as bluish. 
The American representative of this species is H. egretta, and has the bill yellow at all seasons. 
Distribution. — This Egret has much the same distribution in Ceylon as the last, and, though it will occur 
in some tracts of country and not in others, is, I think, quite as numerous if not more so than its larger relative. 
I found it common in extensive paddy-fields near Bolgoddc lake in the Western Province, and also in the 
Galle district, particularly in unfrequented fields in the heart of jungle. In the south-east I found it breeding 
at Tissa Maha Rama, and noticed it in other places in the Hambantota district. In the Eastern Province it 
occurs here and there; and some white Egrets I met with flying over the elevated tract of country between 
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