Tllli GREAT WHITE HERONS. 
73 
, bushes, so that it was exceedingly difficult to get up 
look into them. The three eggs which nearly every nest 
^ontained looked almost lost in the middle of such a big plat- 
orrn. There was a considerable mess on the ground beneath 
uch nest, from the birds dropping their excrement over the 
ge of the nest. In only one nest did I find as many as four 
eggs.” ^ 
%gs. — Three or four in number, of a greenish-blue colour. 
^Ms, 2 'i 5-2-45 ; diam., I'ds-iTS. They vary somewhat in 
uiiensions, and some are slightly paler blue than others. They 
are often laid in March in England, but a little later in Scotland, 
“ud in parts of Europe not till May and June. 
the great white herons, genus herodias. 
Herodias^ Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 559. 
Type, H. egret ta (Wilson). 
Though very much resembling the True Herons in structure, 
G Great White Herons may be distinguished by their snowy- 
'' plumage and by having the edges of the mandibles not 
^Grrated, but a distinct sub-terminal notch is evident near the 
“P of the bill. The latter is long, as in most Herons, but the 
does not exceed the length of the middle toe and claw. 
1 here are no crest plumes, but all the species carry an enor- 
mous dorsal train during the breeding-season. 
It is e.xtremely difficult to say how many species of Herodias 
I have recently devoted much study to the Herons, 
"’hich are very difficult birds to understand, and none are 
more so than the Egrets ; but I have come to the conclusion 
mat there are three species of Great White Heron, of which the 
uropean species {H. alba) has a black bill in summer, while 
m American bird (/Z egretfa) and the Chinese bird {H. timo- 
have yellow bills in summer. As, however, our own 
; ^‘oa has a yellow bill in winter like the other two specie,s, 
>s extremely difficult to recognise them apart at that season 
le year, but the colour of tlic bare tibiai may ultimately be 
^ character of worth. H. egretfa has the tibia black 
H vf f 'i while H. alba and H. timoriensis have them 
nght-coloured. 
