BUFF-BACKED HERON. 89 



Little Egret. Egretta garzetta (Linn.). 



This small white heron breeds in southern Europe, Asia, and 

 Africa, and a few stragglers have apparently lost their way and 

 wandered to England ; only two or three of the records are 

 reliable. 



Two slender plumes project beyond the nape of the Little 

 Egret, and on its back and breast are soft filiform plumes, 

 which are even more sought for than those of the larger white 

 herons. These are the commercial " ospreys,'' worn by the 

 unfortunate bird during its courtship, and, after its untimely 

 death, by a less rightful owner. The young bird is greyer and 

 sports no plumes. The beak is black, the legs black, and the 

 toes marked with yellow, which is also the colour of the irides. 

 Length, 21 ins. Wing, ir25 ins. Tarsus, 4"5 ins. 



Buff-backed Heron. Ardeola ibis (Linn.). 



From 1805, when a young female Buff-backed Heron was 

 shot in Devon, as recorded by Montagu, there was no satis- 

 factory record of the species as a British visitor until October, 

 1917, when Mr. F. W. Smalley saw a male that had just been 

 killed on Breydon Marshes, Yarmouth. It was shot when 

 feeding amongst cattle, a common habit of the bird in the 

 Spanish marshes, its only breeding-place in Europe ; like the 

 Starling, it settles on the backs of the cattle to obtain ticks and 

 other parasites. In summer the plumage is white, but the crown, 

 crest, and elongated plumes on back and neck are buff. In 

 winter, when the plumes are absent, it is almost white ; the 

 Norfolk bird had only a tinge of buff on the crown. Its bill 

 was chrome yellow, its irides golden yellow, and its legs " brown- 

 black." Saunders says that the legs of young birds are olive, 

 and Mr. Smalley believes this bird to be mature. The measure- 

 ments as taken by Mr. Smalley were— length, 20*5 ins.; wing, 

 io'25 ins. ; and tarsus, 3*25 ins. 



