84 
PURPLE HERON. 
differ considerably in size and shape, as well as in colour.’ 
They are generally dull green. Both parents carefully attend 
to the young until they are able to fish for themselves. 
Male; weight, two pounds and three quarters, to nearly 
three pounds; length, about three feet two inches; bill, fine 
yellow, the ridge and tip shaded with brown; a narrow stripe 
of black proceeds from the base of the bill backwards to the 
nape; iris, pale yellow. Forehead and crown, black tinged with 
blue, the feathers lengthening into a long narrow crest, the 
filaments of a chesnut colour, while a line of the same colour 
is carried down the back; on each side of the neck a narrow 
stripe descends, mingling with the more irregularly dark edges 
of the lengthened plume; the upper part of the neck in front 
is white, shaded off into the brown of the sides where the 
black stripes do not prevail; on the front of the neck each 
feather is elongated into the attenuated form, the colours a 
mixture of pale buff, chesnut, grey, black, white, and purple 
red. Chin and throat, pale buff or white; breast on the upper 
part, black, met on each side by deep purple chesnut, or 
brownish red, the middle rich maroon shaded off below into 
a mixture of that colour and dark slate grey. The plumes 
of the back are narrowed and elongated, the narrow tips 
being paler, and those at the sides the longest, and of a 
pale reddish brown; the one side of each is yellowish white, 
the other black, ‘and thus irregular lines of these colours 
are formed, until the long tips become entirely yellowish 
white.’ 
The wings have the first quill feather the shortest, the 
second, third, fourth, and fifth equal in length, and the longest: 
the edges of the wings are white. Greater and lesser wing 
coverts, dark brownish grey with purple and green reflections; 
primaries, dark brownish grey; greater and lesser under wing 
coverts, chesnut, the colour extending over the point of the 
shoulder. Tail, dark brownish or bluish grey, with purple and 
greenish reflections, the two centre feathers dark slate grey; 
upper tail coverts, brownish grey, also w r ith greenish reflections. 
Legs in front, both above and below the knee, dark reddish 
brown, tinged with greenish yellow; behind yellow; toes, also 
brown—reddish brown tinged with greenish yellow; the middle 
toe is very long; under parts of the toes yellowish. Claws 
black, lengthened, slender, and not much bent. 
The female is like the male. 
The young, until three years old, have the upper bill 
