J. Lcivis Bonhote — Buff-backed Herons



189



was passed granting them absolute protection, their numbers in Lower

Egypt were limited to about 120 pairs in one colony. Major Flower,

of the Zoological Service, took up their reinstatement with energy, and

aviaries to serve as centres of distribution were built in various places,

so that the young when bred might be turned out and form new colonies,

whence it was hoped that Egypt would become repopulated.


To show how a protected species may increase under favourable

circumstances, I may mention that in five years the original colony

had increased from 120 to at least 2,GOO nests ; in addition to which

two fresh colonies had been formed, while in the following year (1918)

at least'four more additional colonies were started.


In captivity these birds thrive well on raw meat, with a certain

amount of small fish at least once a week. They breed freely in con¬

finement and as a rule rear their young without difficulty, requiring no

additional food or care as the young are fed by regurgitation from the

parents’ crops. At the age of from two to three weeks the young

stand about on the branches near the nest, and chase importunately

any adult bird that settles near them.


In 1914 I determined to try and start a colony in the Giza Gardens,

and procured several young birds, which 1 reared by hand in my

garden. At first I took them when about three weeks’ old, with the

result that as soon as they were able to fend for themselves they left me

to seek fresh fields and pastures new, but later on, by taking them two

or three days after hatching, they remained about, and proved delightful

pets, being absolutely tame and fearless of man. For some weeks they

were always about the garden and walked round my breakfast table,

grateful for any scraps they were given, but they gradually reverted

to their wild habits, and would be away all day, returning at 9 a.m. and

4 p.m. for their food, although they would roost in larger trees elsewhere.

Little by little, unfortunately, they would gradually wean themselves,

till after some months they seemed to forget their home, although one

particular bird returned regularly for about two years. It was, though

I regret to say it, only myself that they forgot, for they evidently were

mindful of their original home, and by the end of 1916 had persuaded

many of their kind that a zoological gardens where birds were allowed

at liberty was not a bad sort of place, and by 1917 they decided to fix



