Genus— T Y P H 0 N . 
Typhon Reiclienbach, Nat. Syst. Vogel., p. xvi., 1852. Type T. swmtrana. 
Ardeine birds agreeing structurally with Ardea, but differing at sight in 
the longer bill and shorter tail. 
The bill is relatively longer and more slender, being more than one- 
third the length of the mng and equal to the metatarsus ; the depression 
in the sides of the upper mandible is more marked, though less noticeable 
in the lower ; the serrations towards the tip on the edges of the upper 
mandible are more pronounced, while the notch is almost obsolete ; the 
gonydeal angle is little marked owing to the greater length of the bill. 
In the wing the third primary is still longest, though little exceeding 
the second and fourth, but the first and fifth are subequal and distinctly 
shorter, while there is no distinct notching on their inner webs The tail 
is appreciably shorter, and the middle toe is more than half its length ; 
in Ardea the middle toe is about equal to half the length of the tail. 
In the metatarsus the frontal covering shows a still stronger tendency, 
than in Ardea, to break up into irregular reticulation, though the immature 
show clear transverse scutella. 
The genus Ardeo^nega has been confused with the present genus, but 
the much larger size throughout makes it easily separable. The bill is 
much longer and much more massive. In Ty^phon the depth of the bill at 
its base is about one-sixth its length, whereas in Ardemmga the depth is 
more than one-fifth the length. The bill, though so long, is only about 
one-third the wing-length and is less than the length of the tail or meta- 
tarsus. In most other features it agrees with Typhon, but markedly differs 
from Ardea with which it is associated in the Catalogue of the Birds in 
the British Museum. 
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