ARDEID.E. 



361 



■^r-V^;-.^.^ 





THE LITTLE EGRET. 



Ardea garzktta, LinncXus. 



The Little Egret has a more southern habitat than the preceding 

 species, and, as might be expected, its visits to the British Islands 

 are very unusual. When subjected to critical examination almost 

 all the records of its occurrence are more or less unsatisfactory ; and, 

 as far as I can learn, the only example about which there can be no 

 doubt, is an adult examined and recorded by the late Mr. J. 

 Gatcombe, killed at Countess ^^'eir, on the Exe, on June 3rd 1870, 

 and then belonging to Mr. E. H. Harbottle, of Topsham, near 

 Exeter. It is not improbable, however, that one has been obtained 

 in Sussex ; but the bird recorded under this name as obtained near 

 Beverley, Yorkshire, in 1840, is probably one of the Great White 

 Herons already mentioned. There is no specimen in existence to 

 prove Thompson's assertion that it has visited Ireland on three 

 occasions. 



This species has not been found to the north of the Baltic, and 

 it seldom wanders to Germany, Holland, or the north of Erance, 



