Malayan Ornithology. 193 



of some large trees bordering the jheel; then, under cover of 

 the jungle, they were easily stalked. They reminded me 

 much of A. purpurea, the European Purple Heron, except 

 that they were not nearly so richly coloured as that bird. 

 An immature female, which I shot at Kota Lama jheel, 

 Perak, on 5th April 1877, measured about thirty-six inches, 

 in length, bill at fi-ont 4|, tarsus 5 ; crpwn of head dull bluish 

 grey ; chin and throat white ; face and neck rufous brown, 

 the latter spotted longitudinally with dark brown ; upper parts 

 dull brown, the feathers edged with rufous brown and slightly 

 glossed with purple and green ; tail and wings slate-grey ; 

 wing-coverts ashy, with pale rufous edges to the feathers ; 

 abdomen yellowish white. It had bee)i feeding on small 

 fishes. 



Herodias garzetta (Linn.). 



I frequently met with this Egret among the swamps in 

 Singapore, generally in flocks of from fifteen to thirty. 



My notes record : — 



" Singapore, 21st October, 1880. Today, while shooting 

 Snipe in the swamp behind the barracks, I put up a party of 

 twenty white Egrets, and, as they passed overhead, brought 

 down one of them, a fine specimen of H. garzetta, in pure 

 white plumage, but of course, at this time of the year, with- 

 out the crest and the dorsal and pectoral plumes of the 

 breeding-season. 



" In length it is 24 inches, bill at front 3^, tarsus 4 ; legs 

 black, blotched with green ; toes green ; soles yellow.^'' 



BuPHUs coROMANDUs (Bodd.). 



The Cattle-Egret is very plentiful throughout the Malay 

 peninsula ; the following are some of the many references to it 

 in my note-book : — 



''Kwala Kangsar, Perak, 17th February, 1877. Buff- 

 backed Herons are very common here ; wherever there .are 

 many bufi'aloes large flocks of them are always to be seen, 

 either walking about among the animals^ legS; or else perched 

 on their backs picking out ticks and other vermin. This 

 afternoon, close to Kota Lama, I shot a female specimen : 



