Birds from the White Nile. 451 



154. Mesophoyx brachykhyncha. 



Mesophoyx brachyrhyncha (Brehm) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. 

 Mus. xxvi. p. 87 (1898) ; Grant, Ibis, 1901, p. 295. 



G. ? . Fashoda, 31st March. No. 265. 



Iris yellow ; bill yellow ; bare skin in front of eyes pale 

 green ; legs and feet black. 



This female is perhaps not fully adult, the ornamental 

 plumes of the back measuring only about nine inches (in the 

 adult male they attain twice that length), and the bare 

 portions of the ti bio-tarsi being black, with merely indications 

 of yellowish where the feathering begins. 



[The Short-billed Egret is fairly common. — K,. M. H.] 



155. Herodias alba. 



Herodias alba (Linn.) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvi. 

 p. 90 (1898) ; Witherby, p. 272 ; N. C. Roths. & Wollast. 

 p. 29. 



a. S- Kaka, 5th March. No. 111. 



b. S . El-Kawa, 19th May. No. 528. 



Of these two examples of the Great White Egret one 

 /spec, a) is in full breeding-dress, with the dorsal plumes 

 fully developed, the other (spec, b) in somewhat worn con- 

 dition, many of the long plumes having already been cast. 

 Both have the iris pale straw-coloured, the bill ochreous yellow^ 

 the bare skin round the eyes pale green, and the legs and 

 feet black. According to the ' Catalogue of Birds ' (xxvi. 

 p. 92), the bill is black in the breeding-plumage, yellow in ' 

 winter. 



156. Nycticorax nycticorax. 



Nycticorax nycticorax (Linn.) ; Grant & Reid, p. 687. 



Nycticorax griseus (Linn.) ; N. C. Roths. & Wollast. 

 p. 29. 



a. ? iram. Eashoda, 30tb March. No. 253. 



Iris yellow ; bill dusky, greenish at base ; bare skin in 

 front of eyes green ; legs and feet green. 



[I saw several colonies of the Night-Heron, and found 

 the birds very shy. — R. M. H.] 



SER. VIII. — VOL. II. 2h 



