_Ardea_, another world-wide genus, may be subdivided as below if desired,[91] but the supposed generic characters are hardly satisfactory. _A._ (_Buphus_) _bubulcus_, the Buff-backed Heron of South Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Caspian, is white, with buff crown and nape, and elongated occipital, scapular, and jugular plumes of the same colour, developed in the breeding season; _A. coromanda_, with orange head, neck, and scapulars, replacing it from the Caspian eastward and reaching Japan. The former has once visited Britain, while _A._ (_Ardeola_) _ralloides_, the Squacco Heron, has done so frequently. This bird, which ranges from the Canaries and Central Europe to South Africa and Persia, is warm buff, with white wings, tail, breast, and belly, the darker back possessing long hair-like plumes which cover the tail, the jugulars being buff, and the head graced by a tuft of long white feathers, margined with black. _A._ (_Lepterodius_) _gularis_ of tropical Africa and Madagascar, and _A. asha_, extending from the Persian Gulf to India, are dusky-slate with white throat, and have moderate scapular and pectoral plumes, with a nuptial crest. _A._ (_Demiegretta_) _sacra_, ranging from Bengal to Japan, Australia, and the Pacific, differs in having only a white streak down the throat, _A. greyi_ being a white phase. _A._ (_Melanophoyx_) _ardesiaca_ of the Ethiopian Region is almost entirely slaty-black, with elongated occipital, dorsal, and jugular feathers; _A._ (_Notophoyx_) _picata_ of Australia, New Guinea, and the Moluccas, is bluer, and nearly white below; while _A. pacifica_ of that country is greener, with white head and rufescent dorsal plumes. _A._ (_Dichromanassa_) _rufa_ of the warmer parts of North America is plumbeous, with reddish head and neck, its white phase being denominated _A. pealii_; here nearly all the head- and neck-feathers are elongated, and the filamentous scapulars extend beyond the tail. _A._ (_Hydranassa_) _tricolor_, found from the Southern United States to Brazil, is grey-blue, purple, rufous, and white, with shorter seasonal plumes than the preceding; _A._ (_Florida_) _caerulea_, with a slightly more northern range, is slaty-blue, with maroon head and neck, a variable amount of white when immature, and extremely long scapulars; while _A._ (_Agamia_) _agami_ of central and northern South America is metallic green, with rufous and white throat, rufous belly, black cheeks and nape; the very long occipital and dorsal plumes being grey, as is the fore-neck, and the recurved feathers of the sides of the neck reddish. {92}[Illustration: FIG. 26.–Common Heron. _Ardea cinerea._ × ⅐.]