Genus— E G R E T T A . 
Egbetta Forster, Synopt. Cat. Brit. Birds, p. 59, 1817 
Garzetta Kaup, Skizz. Entwick-Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 76, 
IQOQ 
0 ^ 
Type E. garzetta. 
Type E. garzetta. 
Smaller Ardeine birds with long, slender bill, long neck, long wings, long 
legs and toes, and long tail. 
There is no crest on the head but some plumes depend from the nape ; 
long ornamental lanceolate plumes are observed on the fore-neck and there 
is a huge dorsal train. This is in the breeding-plumage, and birds so 
feathered should be always readily distinguished. 
The culmen is long, slender, and somewhat compressed ; it is about one- 
third the length of the wing, but less than the metatarsus. 
The wing is long with the first four primaries sub equal in length, the 
second probably the longest. 
The tail is about equal to the length of the culmen and a little less 
than the metatarsus. 
The legs are long with long exposed tibia ; the metatarsal covering is 
composed of transverse scutes in front and hexagonal scales behind. The 
scutes are perfectly preserved in mature birds and show practically no 
tendency to break up as those of Ardea and TypTion do. 
The toes are long with the characters of Ardea^ the hind toe and inter- 
webbing being the same. 
The entire coloration of the genus in all stages of plumage is pure white, 
and in consequence it is necessary to make comparisons Avith the next two 
genera, whose plumage is also wholly white throughout. 
These three genera have been continually confused by Australian 
students, as though in their breeding-plumage they are well differentiated 
by means of their different development of breeding-ornaments, in the 
winter these are dropped, and young birds do not possess such. 
They can unfailingly be distinguished by the careful examination of 
their structural parts. Mesophoyx is a bird of about the same size as Egretta, 
but in this genus the bill is a Uttle shorter but much stouter ; the tail is 
noticeably longer, while, though the legs are a little longer, the toes are 
considerably so. 
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