96 BIRDS. CULTRIROSTRES. Ardea. 



2. A. Garzetta. Temm. Orn. ii. 57 — This is supposed to be the species, a thou- 

 sand individuals of which were served up under the name of Egrittes, at the 

 celebrated feast of Nevil, Bishop of York, in the reign of Edward IV. It is 

 possible, however, that the lapwing may have been there referred to, as the 

 most common bird with a cr - est. On the supposition that this heron was the 

 bird alluded to, it will be difficult to account for the silence of Willoughby 

 and Ray, in regard to this species being a native of Britain. Merret (Pinax 

 182.) probably refers to this species, as having been sent to him from Wilton. 

 Pennant (Brit. Zool. ii. 631.) once received feathers from Anglesea, which he 

 suspected to belong to this bird. 



3. A. purpurea. Temm. Orn. ii. 570. — This species, in its immature state, 

 is the Ardea Caspica, or African Heron, of British writers. A specimen of 

 this bird in the Leverian Museum, was stated to have been shot in Ashdown 

 Park, near Lambourn, Berks. The late Mr Montagu, in a letter dated 6th 

 January 1814, informed me, " I have just received from a friend a fine speci- 

 men of African Heron, shot in Norfolk." It must, however, be regarded as 

 one of our rarest stragglers. 



4. A. nycticorax. Night Heron. Temm. Orn. ii. 577 A specimen shot 



near London, in May 17^2, existed in the Leverian Museum, according to 

 Montagu, who likewise states, (Supp. Orn. Diet.) on the authority of Lord 

 Upper Ossory, that another was shot on the Ouse, near Ampthill, in 1791. 

 Bewick mentions another in the Wycliff'e Museum, from which his figure was 

 taken, (Brit. Birds, ii. 44.) In the immature plumage, this species is the A. 

 Gardeni of British writers ; in which state it was shot by Lord Kirkwall, as it 

 sat upon a tree, near Thame, in Oxfordshire. (Reverend Mr Dickinson, in 

 Linn. Trans, v. 276, and Montagu, Supp. Orn. Diet.) 



5. A. ralloides. Sguacco Heron. Temm. Orn. ii. 2. 81. — This species is the 

 A. comuta of British writers. An individual was shot at Boyton, in Wiltshire, 

 by Edward Lambert, Esq. in the year 1775 (Linn. Trans, iii. 335.). Another, 

 according to Mr J. Youell, of Yarmouth, was taken on the 20th July 1820, 

 in a net, at Ormsby, in Norfolk. (Linn. Trans, xiii. 617-) The Freckled He- 

 ron, A. lerdiginosa, described by Montagu, in the Supplement to the Ornitho- 

 logical Dictionary, shot at Piddletown, Dorsetshire, by Mr Cunningham, is 

 probably an immature bird of this species. Lest this should not prove to be 

 the case, it is considered expedient to give its description in detail. Tern- 

 minck appears to regard it as synonimous with A. minor of Wilson's Am. Orn. 

 tab. 65. f. 3. and A. " The length is about 23 inches. Bill 2| inches long to 

 the feathers on the forehead, rather slender, and both mandibles equally turned 

 to form the point ; the upper part of the superior mandible dusky ; sides 

 and lower mandible greenish -yellow. The head is very small ; the colour 

 is chocolate-brown, shaded to a dull yellow at the nape, where the feathers are 

 much elongated ; the chin and throat white, with a row of brown feathers 

 down the middle ; at the base of the lower mandible, commences a black 

 mark that increases on the upper part of the neck, on each side, and is two 

 inches or more in length ; the cheeks are yellowish, with an obscure dusky 

 line at the corner of the eye ; the feathers on the neck are long and broad, 

 with their webs partly unconnected ; those in front are pale-yellow, with broad 

 chesnut streaks formed by each feather having one web of each colour, mar- 

 gined, however, with dull-yellow on the chesnut-side ; some feathers have the 

 dark mark in the middle, especially the lower ones : these are all loose, as in 

 the common bittern ; those at the bottom of the neck 4 inches long, and hang 

 pendant below the breast : the hind neck is bare ; and the feathers that fall 

 over that part are pale yellow-brown ; the feathers on the breast are also 

 long, and of a fine chocolate-brown, glossed with purple, and margined with 

 dull-yellow; belly and sides the same, but not quite so bright, the brown 

 marks becoming speckled ; the vent and under tail-coverts yellowish-white. 

 The back and scapulars are chocolate-brown, with paler margins, minutely 

 speckled, and glossed with a tinge of purple in some particular lights. The 

 covers of the wings dull-yellow"; darkest in the middle of each feather; the 

 margins prettily speckled"; the first and second order of quills, their greater 



