Ordek HEKODIONES.] 
[Fam. AEDEIDJ^]. 
AEDEA EGKETTA. 
(WHITE HERON.) 
Ardea egretta, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 629 (1788, ex Lath.). 
Ardea flavirostris, Wagl. Syst. Av. p. 177 (1827). 
Herodias fiamroatris. Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terror, Birds, p. 12 (1843). 
Ilerodias syrmatopliorus, Gould, B. of Austr. vi. pi. 56 (1848). 
Ardea alha, Ellman, Zool. 1861, p. 7469. 
Ardea flavirostris. Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 236. 
Ilerodias alha^ Gould, Handb. B. of Austr. ii. p. 301 (1865). 
Ardea intermedia, Finsch, J. f. O. 1867, p. 332. 
Ardea syrmatojgliora, Buller, Bird.s of New Zealand, 1st ed. p. 226 (1873). 
Ardea egretta, Finscb, J. f. O. 1874, p. 194. 
Native name. — Kotuku ; “ White Crane ” of the colonists. 
Ad. ubiqne alba : scapnlaribus plumis elongatis filamentosis ornatis : rostro Isetb flavo : pedibus nigris : iride flava. 
Adult male. The whole of the plumage snowy wdiite. Irides yellow ; loral skin greenish yellow ; bill bright 
yellow, with a polished surface, sometimes inclining to brown towards the point of the upper mandible ; 
legs black, tinged on the tibia and tai’sal joints with yellow. Length 40 inches ; extent of w'iiigs ol'o ; 
wing, from flexure, 17 ; tail 7 ; bill, along the ridge 5, along the edge of lower mandible 6‘5 j bare tibia 4 ; 
tarsus 6‘25 ; middle toe and claw 4'75 ; hind toe and claw 2'6. 
Female. Similar to the male, but smaller in all its dimensions. 
Nestling. Covered with thick yellowish-white down, which is lengthened on the crown, and being stiff and 
erectile gives the young chick a very striking appearance. Bill dull yellow with black tip ; legs black, 
more or less tinged with yellow. In the Colonial Museum there are two chicks (apparently from the same 
nest), one, however, being nearly double the size of the other. The smaller of the two seems a mere 
mite in comparison with the parent bird ; but with the members of this family the development of the young 
is always very rapid. 
Varieties. I have already mentioned that in our bird the bill is yellow all the year round. I have now, how- 
ever, to record an example with a black bill. I was first informed of it by Mr. W. Sparkes of the Canterbury 
Museum, who wrote to me in November 1884, saying: — ■“'In your remarks upon the White Heron (Birds 
N. Z. 1st ed. p. 226) you state that you have never seen one with a black bill. A very fine bird was sent me 
last Sunday, in the flesh, for mounting, of which the bill is quite black, slightly olive-tinted at the points of 
both mandibles. The legs are of a dark purple colour on the lower portion, changing to a light plum above 
the tarsal joint.” I afterwards had an opportunity of examining this specimen, which was an exceptionally 
fine male, in full breeding-plumage, xvith about seventy beautiful dorsal plumes, the longest of winch measured 
18 inches, extending fully seven inches beyond the tail. It differs from all other examples I have seen 
in having a perfectly black bill, becoming yellowish towards the extreme tips of both mandibles. The loral 
skin is greenish, changing to yellow around the eyes ; and the irides are bright yellow. I observed that in 
this specimen the filamentous dorsal plumes, which are usually snowy white, were tinged with yellow at 
the tips. 
There is a peculiar specimen in the Colonial Museum ; the bill is tinged with browm in its apical 
