Ardea episcopus Boddaert, Tabl. Pl. Enl. (1783), 54.
Dissura episcopus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 294;
Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 370, fig. 87.
Dissöura episcopus Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 190; Oates,
Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 105; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 31.
Basilan (McGregor); Bohol (Steere); Calayan (McGregor); Leyte
(Everett); Luzon (Heriot, Whitehead); Marinduque (Worcester);
Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Everett, Celestino,
Goodfellow); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros
(Steere, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, Keay); Panay (Bourns &
Worcester); Samar (Whitehead). Tropical Africa, Indian and Malay
Peninsulas, Indo-Malay Islands, Indo-Chinese countries, Celebes,
Ceylon.
"Adult male.--Above black, glossed with metallic green and purple, more
especially on hind neck; entire back and upper tail-coverts glossed
with metallic green; tail-feathers black, not to be confounded with
the under tail-coverts, which are white; the outer retrices black,
graduated, and forming a fork; wing-coverts like the back, but
more distinctly glossed, especially on the lesser series, which are
metallic purplish red; quills black, glossed with slaty externally
and with metallic green on the inner face of all the quills, crown
of head blue-black as far as occiput; nape and entire neck white as
well as the throat; chin less thickly clothed with feathers; breast
black, slightly glossed with metallic green, but more strongly with
reddish purple, especially on the fore neck and chest; abdomen and
under tail-coverts white, the long ones stiffened and resembling
tail-feathers; axillars and under wing-coverts black with a gloss of
metallic green. 'Bill in general black, tinged with red on culmen,
tips, and margins; legs and toes red; claws reddish horn-color;
iris crimson; eyelids and facial skin plumbeous.' (Oates.) Length,
about 915; culmen, 914; wing, 508; tail, 183; tarsus, 179.
"Adult female.--Similar to the male. 'Iris very pale, almost whitish
hue.' (H. J. Rainey.) Length, 914; culmen, 145; wing, 470; tail, 183;
tarsus, 157.
"Young birds differ from the adults in being much browner and not
having so much gloss, the black feathers on the head being replaced
by bronzy brown, the purplish gloss on the wing-coverts almost
absent, and the purple gloss on the breast being replaced by dull
bronzy brown. The forehead generally shows a basal line of white
feathers, but these are also apparent in some of the old birds,
and are apparently shed by them in course of time." (Sharpe.)
Specimens obtained in Mindoro have an unfeathered band along the
under side of the forearm. The skin of this space is dark crimson.
"Rather rare and very shy. Usually seen soaring at great
heights. Occasionally met with perching on dead trees, or wading
about the rice-fields." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Suborder ARDEÆ.
Family ARDEIDÆ.
Bill generally slender, straight, and compressed; culmen slightly
curved near its tip; tarsus covered with transverse plates or large
hexagonal scales; toes long; claws well developed, usually sharp and
curved; hind toe well developed, its claw larger than claw of middle
toe, the latter pectinate.
Genera.
a1. Rectrices twelve.
b1. Bare portion of tibio-tarsus equal to or exceeding the inner
toe with claw.
c1. Middle toe with claw as long as tarsus or longer; claw of hind
toe more than half the length of hind toe itself and but slightly
curved; plumage variegated, never white. ... Pyrrherodia (p. 162)
c2. Middle toe with claw shorter than tarsus; claw of hind toe
curved; plumage nearly uniform slate-gray or largely white.
d1. Edge of mandibles distinctly serrated, a faintly indicated
notch near tip of upper mandible.
e1. Head crested, nape feathers elongated and ornamented;
plumage of fore neck long but not disintegrated; no dorsal
train; plumage uniform gray, or else, neck mostly white and
crest black. ... Ardea (p. 163)
e2. Head crested, without ornamental plumes; fore neck
with disintegrated plumes; an immense dorsal train; plumage
white. ... Mesophoyx (p. 165)
d2. Edge of mandible not serrated; a distinct subterminal notch
in upper mandible.
e1. Bill shorter; culmen not exceeding middle toe with claw.
f1. No crest plumes; a well-developed dorsal train; plumage
white. ... Herodias (p. 166)
e2. Bill longer; culmen exceeding middle toe with claw;
plumage white. ... Egretta (p. 167)
b2. Bare portion of tibio-tarsus less than inner toe; feathering
sometimes extending nearly to the heel.
c1. Bill without serrations in either mandible; upper mandible
with a distinct notch just before the end.
d1. Culmen longer than tarsus, the latter longer than middle toe;
plumage very dark slate-color. ... Demigretta (p. 168)
d2. Culmen not longer than tarsus; two or three elongated
nape plumes.
e1. Tarsus and culmen about equal; two or three elongated
nape plumes very slender. ... Nycticorax (p. 169)
e2. Tarsus decidedly longer than culmen; nape plumes
wider. ... Gorsachius (p. 172)
c2. Bill with distinct serrations near its end, sometimes only
the upper mandible serrated; subterminal notch obsolete.
d1. Bill moderately long, exceeding middle toe with claw;
plumage more or less variegated. ... Butorides (p. 174)
d2. Bill shorter than middle toe with claw; plumage
white. ... Bubulcus (p. 177)
a2. Rectrices ten; plumage more or less mottled or streaked, never
white.
b1. Exposed culmen equal to or more than middle toe without claw;
size much smaller; wing less than 220 mm.
c1. Culmen more than tarsus. [17]
d1. Smaller; wing less than 160 mm. ... Ixobrychus (p. 178)
d2. Larger; wing more than 180 mm. ... Dupetor (p. 182)
c2. Culmen equal to or less than tarsus. ... Nannocnus (p. 180)
b2. Exposed culmen much less than middle toe without claw; size
much greater; wing more than 260 mm. ... Botaurus (p. 183)
Genus PYRRHERODIA Finsch and Hartlaub, 1870.
This genus of large herons is distinguished by having the claws very
long; hind toe contains its claw one and two-thirds times; tarsus
contains the hind toe with claw one and one-half times.