SQUACCO HERON. AQ) 
with black, and six long narrow white feathers margined with black extend 
beyond the crest: the feathers on the lower back and breast are spread 
out into plumes. The soft parts of the head of this Heron are very 
beautiful. When newly killed it has the tip of the bill black, the re- 
mainder cobalt-blue, and the bare skin round the eye emerald-green ; 
the legs and feet are flesh-colour, yellow on the soles and round the knees, 
claws black ; irides pale yellow. The female resembles the male in colour, 
but the plumes are shorter. After the autumn moult all the feathers of 
the neck, except the chin, throat, and a narrow line down the fore neck, 
have dark brown margins, like the feathers on the crown in summer 
plumage; the black and white feathers of the crest, and nearly all the 
nuptial plumes on the back, are absent, and the feathers of the upper, 
back, the scapulars, and innermost secondaries are earthy brown. Young 
in first plumage have the upper parts more or less streaked, but otherwise 
very closely resemble the adults in winter plumage, birds of the year 
being slightly intermediate. 
