SPREAD OF THE CATTLE EGRET — SPRUNT 261 



England. — The following interesting data are quoted from "Witli- 

 erby, Jourdain, et al., Handbook of British birds, vol, 3, p. 144, 1939 : 



A considerable number of . . . coromanda [the Asiatic subspecies of Buhul- 

 cus ibis] . . . have been released by the Zoological Society each year since 

 1931 at Whipsnade, and a few were also released in 1930 by Mr. A. Ezra at 

 Cobham, Surrey. These birds have wandered in all directions and have been 

 reported from time to time in many parts of the country as far apart as Devon, 

 Somerset, Monmouth, Wiltshire, Leicester, Notts, Merioneth, Kent, Essex, Cam- 

 bridge, Norfolk, Lines, Perth, and even Iceland. 



This account very definitely shows the tendency of the bird to scat- 

 ter far and wide, a characteristic that should be constantly borne in 

 mind. 



NEW WORLD STATUS 



SOUTH AMERICA 



British Guimia. — The first specimen of the cattle egret (African 

 form, Bubulcus ibis ibis) in the New World Avas obtained by Emmet 

 R. Blake, near Buxton, East Coast, British Guiana, May 27, 1937. 

 It was an adult female (Auk, vol. 56, pp. 470-^71, 1939). How the 

 species arrived in British Guiana is still a mystery. Reference to this 

 is contained in F. Ilaverschmidt's article in Audubon ISIagazine (vol. 

 55, No. 5, p. 202, September-October 1953), and is quoted herewith. 



We do not know where the cattle egret landed in South America, nor when. 

 . . . Naturally the question arises how did this bird arrive In South America 

 and where did it come from? There is in my opinion no reason to doubt that 

 its spread is a natural one. I have heard some rumors that some people think 

 that some birds were taken as pets by laborers from India into the Guianas. 

 This can be rejected at once, however, as in that case the birds must have 

 been of the race inhabiting southern Asia which is not the case, as all birds 

 obtained in South America are of the race of .southern Europe and Africa. 



A fact is that of late years the cattle egret has increased greatly and also has 

 extended its range in Africa, for instance, in the Eastern Cape Province. . . . 

 They occur as migrants in the noubreeding season in the Congo, Cameroons, 

 etc. . . . Could it not have been possible that a flock of these migrating birds 

 were blown to the west, owing to special weather conditions which brought them 

 over the Atlantic at some place on the coast of tropical South America? Here 

 again, because of the lack of field observers, it could have happened all un- 

 noticed. 



We further may ask whether all the cattle egret.s now found (in So. Amer.) 

 are the descendants of one single flock which survived the first crossing and 

 which settled down in a favorable area. Or does some immigration still regu- 

 larly take place? We cannot give an answer to all these interesting questions, 

 but the unhappy feeling remains that a wonderful event has occurred about 

 which we know very little. 



Any student of this "wonderful event," as Mr. Ilaverschmidt very 

 aptly calls it, is urged to read his article in its entirety, for it is a very 

 clear picture presented in popular and readable form. 



