130 
of wings 40 j wingj frona flexure, 11-5 ; tail 4 ; bill, along the ridge 3-5, along the edge of lower mandible 
4’25 ; bare tibia 1'5 ; tarsus 3 ; middle toe and elaw 2‘75 ; hind toe and claw 1'75. 
Female. Has the pectoral and dorsal plumes smaller and duller in colour, with a brown tinge over the entire 
plumage. j 
t 
Young. In the young of the flrst year the plumage is largely stained with brown, especially on the upper parts ; 
all the wing-coverts are shaded with brown towards the tip, with a narrow terminal edging of a lighter \ 
tint ; and, in certain lights, the entire plumage presents an appearance of vinous brown. There are no 
pectoral plumes ; the gular streak of white, instead of being narrow throughout, expands in the middle • and 
the bill is dark brown, blackish on the ridge. 
Nestling. Covered w'ith slate-coloured down. 
Albino. There is an albino in the Otago Museum ; general plumage pure white, but with slate-coloured feathers 
cropping out irregularly all over the body, and more abundantly on the crown and back ; the primaries pure 
white, with only a few touches of colour near the tips, whilst some of the secondaries are almost wholly slate- 
coloured J tail-feathers parti-coloured, the white, however, being entirely absent on two or three of them ; '■ 
bill and feet as in ordinary specimens. Professor Hutton has marked this as the young state of A. sacra, ' 
from the Society Islands. This, however, is a mistake. I have already described the young of that species 
from the nest. This is undoubtedly another example of albinism with the normal colour persistently 
endeavouring to assert itself. 
Obs. A specimen in my collection (adult $ ) obtained at Kaiwara, near Wellington, has the occipital plumes 
continued fully two inches beyond the head. 
Remarks. The history of this species has been worked out in an exhaustive manner by Drs. Finsch and Flart- 
laub, to whose labours I am in a great measure indebted for the very complete synonymy at the head of this 
article. I am unable, however, to follow these authors in considering Mr. G. R. Gray’s Ardea greyi (Cat. 
Brit. jMus. Grallw, p. 80) the same species in the condition of an albino. Mr. Gould once entertained that 
opinion, but was induced to alter it ; and in his ' Handbook ’ (ii. p. 309) he quotes Macgillivray’s observations 
to the following effect : — “ From the circumstance of my having always found this and the dark-coloured 
species in company, I considered them as the same bird in different states of plumage, their size and pro- 
portions being so similar, and was surprised that individuals exhibiting a change from blue to white, or vice 
versa, never occurred. At length, while on Dugong Island, I was convinced they were specifically distinct 
by seeing that the half-grown young from the nest had assumed the distinctive colour of the parents. This 
was first pointed out to me by Dr. Muirhead, R.N., whose attention I had previously drawn to the subject. 
The habits of both species are similar ; and they procure their food in the same manner at low water on the 
coral-reefs surrounding the low islands they frequent. The nest and eggs are precisely similar ; but the 
young of this bird is white from the nest.” Although this white form is abundantly dispersed over the 
northern and eastern coasts of Australia wherever low islands and reefs of coral running parallel to these 
coasts occur, it has never yet been met with in New Zealand, which is a further reason for our I’efusing to j 
consider it an albino of the common species. | 
iiiE Blue Heron is not confined to New Zealand, but is found along the whole of the Australian ! 
coasts and throughout the Polynesian archipelago ; its range extends also to India and Japan, the i 
differences in examples from those countries being too trifling to warrant a specific separation. j 
In our country the Blue Heron frequents the rocks under the sea-cliffs, and the shores of the 
sheltered bays and estuaries, where it may be observed moving actively about in search of its food 
wdiich consists of small crabs and shell mollusks ; or perched on some prominent point of rock where 
its constant vigilance renders it difficult of approach except under cover. When disturbed it rises 
slowly and rather awkwardly, and makes a detour seaward, returning to a neighbouring station on 
the rocks, or, if alarmed, wings its way slowly across the bay or to some more remote part of the 
