Genus DEMIGRETTA Blyth, 1846.
In size of body and proportional size of bill, legs, and feet this genus is very similar to Egretta but the legs are feathered nearer to the heel and the plumage is normally slate-blue.
140. DEMIGRETTA SACRA (Gmelin).
BLUE REEF HERON.
- Ardea sacra Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 2, 640.
- Demiegretta sacra Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 137; Hand-List (1899), 1, 198; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1902), 2, 122; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 33.
- Lepterodius sacer Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 391, fig. 93.
Ta-lá-bon, Ticao.
Balabac (Steere Exp., Everett); Bantayan (McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Bohol (Steere Exp., McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (Guillemard); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (Murray, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Fuga (McGregor); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Bourns & Worcester, Mearns); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Bourns & Worcester, Keay); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Pata (Mearns); Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Semirara (Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Coast of Bay of Bengal to Australia and Oceania, north to Japan and Korea.
“Adult male in breeding plumage.—General color deep blackish slate; head almost black; feathers of upper breast elongated like those of the middle of the back, some of the latter decomposed; the elongated feathers of a paler slaty gray, and those of back reaching to end of tail; head crested and of the same color as the back; abdomen and vent-feathers tinged with ashy; a pure white streak down the center of the throat. Length, 584; culmen, 71; wing, 254; tail, 79; tarsus, 74.
“Adult female in breeding plumage.—Similar to the male, but the ornamental plumes slightly less developed. Length, 533; wing, 259.
“Young.—Paler and more sooty brown than the adults, and bleaching often to a slight earthy brown. No ornamental plumes on head, back, and chest.