Order ARDEIF0RME8 Family ARDEIDM. 
No. 232. 
ARDEA CINEREA RECTIROSTRIS. 
EASTERN GREY HERON. 
(Plate 183.) 
Ardea RECTIROSTRIS Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1843, p. 22 ; New South Wales, 
(= India ?) 
Ardea rectirostris Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1843, p. 22. 
Ardea leucopkcea id., ib. 1848, p. 58 (India) ; id., Birds Austr., Vol. VI., pi. 55, 1848. 
Ardea cinerea (not Linne) Schrenck, Vogels des Amur-Landes, p. 434, 1860 ; Radde, 
Reisen Suden von Ost-Sibir., p. 343, 1863 ; Jerdon, Birds of India, Vol. III., 
p. 741, 1864 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 295, 1865 ; 
Prjevalsky, Rowley’s Miscel., Vol. III., p. 48, 1878 ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. 
Birds, p. 21, 1888 ; Taczanowski, Mem. I’Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersb., Ser. VII., 
Vol. XXXIX., p. 980, 1893 ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXVI., p. 74, 
1898 (pars) ; Buller, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1898, Vol. XXXI., p. 28, 1899 ; 
Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 98, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, 
p. 950, 1901 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 193, 1905 ; Hall, Key 
Birds Austr., p. 98, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 32, 1908. 
Ardea cinerea rectirostris Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 230, 1912 ; id., List 
Birds Austr., p. 80, 1913. 
Distribution. Siberia (breeding), migrating southward to Australia and New Zealand. 
Adult male. Upper-parts ash-grey, including the back, wings, and tail, rather darker 
grey on the mantle, the lanceolate feathers on the scapulars hoary-grey ; 
wing-coverts paler grey becoming white on the outer margin of the wing ; 
bastard-iving, primary-coverts and quills black ; secondaries also black, the 
inner ones grey on the inner webs towards the base, the long innermost 
secondaries grey like the back; fore-part of head and coronal crest white as 
also a narrow line round the eye, throat, entire neck, and ornamental feathers 
on the fore-neck ; sides of crown and long nuchal crest black, as also an 
irregular line down the middle of the fore-neck ; abdomen, thighs, and under 
tail-coverts dirty-white ; sides of breast, sides of abdomen, and vent black ; 
sides of body, axillaries, and under wing-coverts pale ash-grey, the small coverts 
round the edge of the wing white, under side of the quills lead-grey. Iris yellow, 
outer edge blackish, bare space round eye dirty greenish-grey ; upper mandible 
brownish-black, lower one yellow ; feet greenish-brown ; upper parts of legs and 
the soles dirty yellow-green. Total length 932 mm. ; culmen 116, wing 435, 
tail 175, tarsus 140. , 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
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