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FAMILY XXXVIII.— ARDEINJE. HERONS. 
Bill longer than the head, stout, tapering, compressed, pointed, its edges 
often irregularly serrate. Head oblong, compressed ; neck very long ; body 
much compressed. Eyes large or moderate. Nostrils basal, linear, longi- 
tudinal. Legs long, rather slender ; tibia bare to a great extent ; tarsus 
compressed, anteriorly scutellate ; toes rather long, the first on the same 
place, of moderate size, the outer toe a little longer than the inner, and with 
a slight web at the base ; all compressed and scutellate. Claws rather long, 
arched, compressed, acute, that of the hind toe larger and more curved. 
Plumage blended. Wings long, very broad, with the outer four quills 
longest, secondaries very long. Tail very short, nearly even, of twelve 
rather Weak feathers. (Esophagus very wide, without dilatation ; stomach 
small, very thin, with the inner coat soft and smooth ; intestine very long 
and extremely narrow ; no coecal appendages, but the large intestine forming, 
a small sac at its commencement ; cloaca very large, globular. Trachea 
simple, generally cylindrical, with the bronchi wide, and a single pair of 
slender inferior laryngeal muscles. Nests large, flat, widely constructed, 
placed on trees, bushes, sometimes on the ground ; eggs from three to four, 
oval, light blue. Young remain in the nest until fledged. 
Genus I.— ARDEA, Linn. HERON. 
Night Herons. Bill slightly longer than the head, stout, tapering, 
compressed, with the upper outline somewhat curved ; logs of moderate 
length, bare part of tibia short ; neck thick ; body full ; features of the neck 
elongated and curved backwards. 
Vol. VI. 
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