560 Mr. W. L. S. Loat on the 



two specimens of Ardea egretta by the side of tlie Lamaha 

 Canal. The " Chow " {Butorides cijanurus) is generally 

 found near trenches and canals. It does not frequent the 

 open marshy grounds, as is the case with Ardea caerulea, 

 but seems to be of more retiring habits. 



Another common bird of the marshy lands, trenches, and 

 canals is the ''Spur-wing" {Parra jacana). When ap- 

 proached it generally flies off, uttering its sharp cry, though 

 sometimes it will skulk in the herbage, hoping to evade 

 notice. The enormous length of the toes and claws enables 

 it to run over the leaves of water-lilies and other aquatic 

 herbage with great ease. In a specimen measured, the claw 

 of the first digit was nearly two inches long, and the spread 

 of foot from the tip of the claw of the first digit to tip of 

 claw of third digit about five inches. I obtained three 

 newly-hatched young of this bird, and found that even at 

 this early age the toes and claws were of great length. The 

 under part of the body was entirely white, and the upper part 

 more or less striped with black and different shades of brown 

 not at all unlike the appearance of a young Partridge. 



The magnificent Scarlet Ibis (Eiidocimus rube?'') is some- 

 times seen in large flocks, feeding on the mudflats of the 

 coast. This bird used to be found distributed along the whole 

 coast-line, but has now almost disappeared from certain 

 places. It is still to be found near the mouth of the Coren- 

 tyn River, which divides British from Dutch Guiana, and 

 occasionally at the mouth of the Berbice, also near the 

 mouths of the Waini and Barima, which are not far from the 

 Orinoco. The difference between the brown plumage of 

 the young and the scarlet ol: the adult of this Ibis is very 

 remarkable. 



The chief breeding-place of several of the Herons is on 

 the Dauntless Bank, an island formed in the mouth of the 

 Essequebo by the silting up of mud upon a schooner 

 which was sunk there some fifty years ago. The island 

 thus formed is now several miles long and nearly a mile 

 wide : it is clothed all round its edge with dense vege- 

 tation, but in the middle is more open, with low bushes and 



