• White-fronted Heron, Phillip, Voy. Bot. Bay, i. p. 163, pl. 27 (1789).

• Ardea novæ hollandiæ, Lath. Gen. Ind. ii. p. 701 (1790, ex Phillip).

• Ardea leucops, Wagl. Syst. Av. Ardea, sp. 17 (1827).

• Herodias novæ hollandiæ, Gray, Cat. Grallæ Brit. Mus. p. 80 (1844).

• Demiegretta novæ hollandiæ, Gray, Hand-1. of B. iii. p. 28 (1871).

Native name.—Matuku-moana.

Ad. suprà dilutè schistaceo-cinereus, pileo cristato saturatiore: interscapulio scapularibusque pallidioribus, cinereis, quasi strigatis: tectricibus alarum dilutè cinereis: remigibus schistaceo-nigricantibus, secundariis clarè cinereo lavatis: rectricibus schistaceo-cinereis, versus apicem brunnescentibus; fronte et supercilio lato, facie laterali et gutture toto albis: regione paroticâ et collo laterali cinereis: subtùs pallidè cinereus, collo undique saturatiore, jugulo medio et imo pallidè rufescente: subalaribus pallidè cinereis, albicantibus: regione oculari pallidè virescenti-flavâ: rostro nigro, versus basin mandibulæ albicante: pedibus flavicantibus, tarsis imis digitisque virescentibus: iride Iætè flavâ.

Adult. Forehead, apace round the eyes, and throat white; crown of the head dark cinereous or bluish grey, the occipital feathers rather elongated, and lighter; sides of the head, neck, and all the upper parts bright cinereous, with a warm purplish tinge; the back ornamented with a series of long lanceolate plumes of a lighter colour, some of which extend beyond the scapulars; down the fore neck a stripe of buff, changing below to yellowish brown; the long plumes overlapping the breast very soft in texture, and of a roseate purple tint; underparts generally pale cinereous brown, slightly tinged with purple; quills and tail-feathers dark slate-grey. Irides bright yellow; edges of eyelids, bare part of lores, and membrane surrounding the angle of the mouth pale greenish yellow; bill black, the lower mandible whitish towards the base; legs yellow, tinged more or less with dusky green on the toes and lower part of tarai; claws pale brown. Length 25·5 inches; extent of wings 42; wing, from flexure, 12; tail 5; bill, along the ridge 3, along the edge of lower mandible 4; bare tibia 2; tarsus 3·5; middle toe and claw 2·6; hind toe and claw 1·75.

Young. Differs from the adult in having more white about the head and neck, and a darker tinge of brown on the underparts; the dorsal plumes, moreover, are scanty, and the delicate purplish tint on the breast is altogether wanting.

The White-fronted Heron is very sparingly dispersed over the New-Zealand coasts, being extremely rare at the far north; but, according to Gould, it is very abundant over every part of Tasmania, the Colonies of New South Wales, South Australia, and Swan River. “Low sandy beaches washed by the open ocean, arms of the sea, and the sides of rivers and lagoons, both in the interior of the country and near the coast, are equally tenanted by it; consequently it is one of the commonest species of the genus in all the countries above mentioned, and may frequently be seen walking knee-deep in the water of the salt marshes in search of food, which consists of crabs, fish, and marine insects. Its flight is heavy and flapping, like that of the other Herons; but it runs more quickly over the ground, and is continually moving about when searching for food, and never stands motionless in the water page 135 as the true Herons do: these active habits are, in fact, necessary to enable it to capture insects and crabs, upon which it mainly subsists.”

In the Hairini bay, at Tauranga, I saw a pair of these birds on the flats just above the bridge. They stalked about with a loftier mien than Ardea sacra, and were readily distinguishable, even at some distance, by the lighter grey of their plumage^*.

The Blue Heron seems to prefer the rock-bound coast, springing from one jutting stone to another as it searches for its prey. The White-fronted Heron, on the other hand, is generally to be seen on the hard sandy beaches and mud-flats within the river-mouths and estuaries. You will see him stalking about alone on the beach, as if for the mere pleasure of exercising his limbs; then he flies off to a small rock standing out of the water and takes up a position for fishing. He balances his body horizontally, holds back his head and watches; then with the rapidity of thought he strikes forward, plunging his head into the water and bringing out a struggling victim. I have watched one thus engaged for a considerable time through a powerful binocular, and I have seen it catch minnows fully five inches in length, and in the intervals turn its attention to smaller fry, by snatching at flies or other insects passing within its reach. I have observed the same thing on watching some captive ones in the Acclimatization Gardens at Sydney; for they were perpetually chasing flies and other insects that came within their enclosure.

A pair of these birds which I obtained in the Porirua Harbour, near Wellington, in the month of April, had their stomachs filled with shrimps.

It is strange that although the Blue Heron breeds freely on the small islands lying off the Bay of Plenty, this species is never found nesting there. This may, however, be due to the relative scarcity of the bird.

“Some nests,” writes Mr. Gould (Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 299), “I observed in the month of October 1838, on the banks of the Derwent, were placed on the tops of the smaller gum-trees, and most of them contained newly hatched birds. Mr. Kermode informed me that it annually breeds in the neighbourhood of his estate, near the centre of Tasmania. The nest is of a moderate size, and is composed of sticks and leaves. The eggs are four in number, of a pale bluish green, one inch and seven eighths long by one inch and a quarter broad.”