Silesia, in the summer of 1868 (J. f. O. 1863, p. 440); but
on the whole this species may be considered as rare to
the north of the valley of the Danube, where it formerly
bred in considerable numbers, although it has now become
scarce, owing to persecution for the sake of its plumes. In
the marshes of Sicily and Sardinia it is tolerably abundant,
especially in winter, and it visits most of the islands and
the south-eastern shores of the Mediterranean. In Macedonia
Messrs. Elwes and Buckley found it common in
February, in which month an adult male had the long
plumes of the back fully developed ; and it breeds in Bulgaria,
Turkey, and the southern and central districts of
Russia. Eastward it has been met with in suitable localities
in Asia Minor, Turkestan, and the warm and temperate portions
of Asia as far east as Manchuria and Japan. From
the more northern districts it migrates in winter; but in
India, Ceylon, Burmali, and China a form is resident in
which the average measurements are smaller than in European
examples. In North Africa, from Morocco to Egypt,
it principally occurs in winter; and in Abyssinia it has been
found at an elevation of upwards of 9,000 feet. It is said to
occur in South Africa, but there is some doubt as to the
accuracy of the identification. The same remark applies
to the species of Great White Heron found in Australia and
New Zealand, and which is said to have the bill yellow at
all seasons of the year, whereas our bird has the bill black
in summer and yellow in winter. In America there is a
closely-allied species, A. egretta, which has a yellow bill at
all seasons, and the tarsi and tibiae are always black.
The nest of the Great White Heron found by A. von
Homeyer, was slightly built and placed on an old fir-tree,
and three young birds which had apparently been hatched a
few days were found in it on the 28tli of June. The largest
of them had left the nest and flown to the nearest tree on the
22nd of July, when it was secured and sent to the Berlin
Museum, and subsequently the remaining young birds and
one of the parents were shot, the survivor leaving in August.
In India, where the breeding-time depends upon the rains,
this Heron nests from October to February in groves of
trees, the trunks of which are submerged in the wet season.
In Ceylon, Colonel Legge describes it as nesting on the
same trees with other Herons, Spoonbills, and Pelican-
Ibises ; the surface of the nest being almost flat, with
scarcely any hollow for the reception of the eggs, which are
laid on a lining of roots and twigs. The eggs are three or
four in number, of a pale greenish-blue colour, and average
in measurements 2'5 by P5 in.
The food of this species consists of small fish, reptiles,
mollusks, and aquatic insects. Colonel Legge says that
“ it leaves its feeding-grounds early in the evening, and
resorts at once to the tall trees on which it nightly roosts.
It is as a rule a silent bird, but, when put up, now and then
utters a single note like kar.”
Adult birds have the beak black during the breeding-
season, turning to yellow in autumn ; the lore and bare space
round the eye, pale green ; irides yellow ; the whole plumage
white ; the feathers of the back of the head very slightly
elongated ; those at the bottom of the neck in front, more
so ; the interscapulars and dorsal feathers very long and filamentous
in spring, but absent in autumn ; legs, toes, and
claws almost black : the tibia paler.
Adult males and females are alike in plumage, but the
former are the larger and have the plumes more developed.
The whole length from the point of the beak to the end
of the tail is about three feet four inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing, seventeen or eighteen inches ;
length of the tarsus seven inches and a half.
Young birds do not acquire the elongated feathers during
their first or second year; the bill is yellowish and the legs
are paler. A nestling from the Lower Volga, lent to the
Editor by Mr. E. Bidvvell, is covered with long liair-like
greyish-white down; the bare skin of the throat is livid;
the bill yellowish, black at the tip ; legs and feet yellowish.