SOUACCO HERON 



249 



Squaeco Heron 

 (Ardeola ralloides 



The small heron commonly known in Europe by the 

 ugly name of squaeco heron belongs to a group 

 of four or five species whose Indian representatives 

 are more euphoniously termed pond-herons. Although only a casual 

 visitor to the British Isles, the squaeco has made its appearance there 

 so much more frequently than any of the three species just mentioned, 

 that it seems entitled to a definite place in the list of British birds. 

 Pond -herons are smaller 



plumage are to a consider- 

 able extent intermediate 

 between those two groups. 

 Agreeing in many respects, 

 such as the relative length 

 of the bare part of the leg, 

 with the cattle-egrets, the 

 pond -herons differ from 

 those birds in that the 

 back is coloured at all 

 seasons, and is never 

 wholly buff, and also b}' 

 the circumstance that the 

 beak is longer (instead of 

 shorter) than the shank of 

 the leg. 



In breeding-dress the 

 European pond -heron, or 



squaeco, has the head and neck golden buff; the front feathers of the 

 head-crest are marked with dusky streaks on a white ground, and those 

 behind margined with black ; on the neck the long plumes are wholly 

 buff, but on the back the feathers, which are also long and remarkably 

 loose in structure, assume a cinnamon-buff tint, while the wings, tail, 

 and under-parts are of the pure white characteristic of egrets in general. 

 The hen may be recognised by her smaller stature, shorter crest, and 

 less flowing back-plumes. When in their winter-livery both sexes 

 turn earthy brown on the back, and the cock has shorter plumes than 

 when in his full summer-dress. Birds of the year may be distinguished 



THE ROWi-AND WARD STUDIOS 



SQUACCO HEROX. 



