194 Lieut. H. R. Kelham on 



length 19^ inches, beak at front 2^, tarsus 3^ ; plumage 

 white, with tbe exception of a faint buff tinge on the head 

 and nape ; ii'ides yellow ; legs black ; beak reddish yellow ; 

 in shortj the bird was in almost perfect non-breeding plu- 

 mage, though another, which I shot out of the same flock, 

 shows traces of the buff back. Every evening at dusk a large 

 flock of these Egrets fly across the river and roost in a clump 

 of trees exactly opposite our camp/^ 



" Singapore, 4th November, 1880. Leaving Tanglin di- 

 rectly after tiffin, I followed a jungle-path for a mile or two 

 till it brought me out on an open swamp, a branch of the 

 Mount-Echo valley. Quietly parting the bushes, I looked 

 out into the open, and found myself quite close to a large 

 flock of Cattle-Egrets, which, unaware of my presence, were 

 stalking about the swamp picking up larvae and aquatic 

 insects. After watching them for several minutes, I stepped 

 out from my hiding-place and, as they rose, brought down a 

 couple. The birds were so confused at my suddenly and so 

 unexpectedly appearing almost in their midst, that they 

 flaj^ped about in all directions, not knoAving which way to go, 

 and gave me easy shots. One, struck by a single pellet, which 

 grazed the top of its head, seemed to be completely dazed, 

 and, though iu other respects vmtouched, made no attempt to 

 fly away, nor even to walk, but stood bolt upright, quite 

 motionless, and stared vacantly at me in a most idiotic man- 

 ner ; I suppose it was suffering from concussion of the brain. 



'^ Both of the birds I shot were iu pure white plumage, 

 except a slight tinge o£ buff" on the head ; the beak was 

 orange, at front 2 j inches ; orbital skin greenish yellow ; 

 irides yellow ; legs black tinged with green, soles green ; 

 tarsus 3j^o- inches. Their stomachs contained large spiders, 

 several grasshoppers, dragonflies, and small insects."'' 



" Kwala Kaugsar, Perak, 8th April, 1877. Today I shot in 

 the country round Saiyong, and on the large jheel saw several 

 Herons {Ardeti sumatrana) , a few Teal, and literally hundreds 

 of Cattle-Egrets ; the last are becoming of a ruddy brown 

 colour on the head, neck, and breast, a sure sign of the ap- 

 proach of the breeding-season.^^ 



