_A._ (_Garzetta_) _garzetta_, the "Little Egret," which has strayed to Britain, and extends from South Europe to the whole of Africa, India, and Japan, is entirely white, with long filamentous scapular and moderate jugular plumes and two lengthened crest-feathers, all of which are said to be temporarily lost after breeding. _A. nigripes_, ranging from Java to Australia, is barely distinguishable, but the American representative, _A. candidissima_, has a large occipital tuft. _A._ (_Herodias_) _alba_, the Great White Heron, another of our rare visitors, extends from the middle of Europe to most of Africa, Central Asia, and the Burmese countries, beyond which a doubtfully distinct species, with yellower bill, reaches Australia and New Zealand; the American _A. egretta_, however, differs in its black legs. The breeding adult is white, with very long decomposed scapular and lengthened jugular plumes, but no crest. The most typical forms of _Ardea_ are large slaty-coloured birds, varied by black, rufous, and white, the head being commonly darker and the lower parts striped; while two slender occipital plumes are, {93}in most cases, developed in the nuptial period, and the scapular and jugular feathers are elongated, though not decomposed. The Common Heron (_A. cinerea_), ranging through Europe, Africa, and Asia, to Japan and Australia, needs no description, but the Purple Heron, _A._ (_Phoyx_) _purpurea_, though it often occurs in Britain, is less well known. It is grey, with black crown and black stripes down the sides of the buff neck, chestnut scapulars, rufous, grey, and black jugular plumes, and maroon breast; the range being from Central and Southern Europe to South Africa, China, and the Philippines. _A. herodias_ of North America meets in northern South America the white-necked _A. cocoi_, both species resembling _A. cinerea_, but the former having rufous thighs and edge of the wing. The white _A. occidentalis_, of Florida and Cuba,[92] was formerly thought to be an instance of dichromatism. The African _A. goliath_ has the head and neck rufous and the under surface chiefly maroon. [Illustration: FIG. 27.–Whale-head or Shoe-bill. _Balaeniceps rex._ × 1/14.] The sexes are usually alike; but the female has ordinarily shorter plumes, and may be duller, as may the young, though the stages of plumage are not yet completely worked out. White or rufous markings are often noticeable, especially in immature specimens of _Ardea_; there is little red about the head in those of _Dichromanassa_, though in _Hydranassa_ the amount is greater than in the adult; those of _Florida_ are generally very white; and, conversely, white {94}species often shew grey tints in early life; while immature examples of _Nycticorax_ differ entirely from their parents, being brown with white or buff spotting above, and white with dusky stripes below. The bill, feet, naked lores, and orbits may be reddish, bluish, green, yellow, brown, or black.