170 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



the Latin name of hubulcus, owe their origin to the bird's affecting 

 the society of cattle in this way. 



In its habits the Buff-backed Heron is eminently sociable and far 

 from shy, being frequently found in the vicinity of buildings and 

 cultivated land, and at times being actually known to follow the 

 plough. Its principal food appears to be insects and worms, but it 

 is said also to eat frogs, reptiles and small mammals. 



Its note, or alarm cry, is a harsh "</;•«, gra," but the bird is 

 silent as a rule. 



The present species breeds in colonies, and in Tunisia, in or on 

 the borders of swamps and marshes, the nest being a light flat 

 structure composed of a few dry sticks and rushes loosely put 

 together. The eggs, three or four in number, are as a rule pale 

 bluish-green, and measure about 44 X 33 mm. 



In Marocco Mr. Meade-Waldo found an enormous colony of this 

 species breeding on a low rocky island in the sea between Kabat and 

 Fedulla. This island, which is separated from the mainland by a 

 channel some two hundred yards wide, was absolutely covered with 

 nests, and according to Mr. Meade-Waldo, there must have been some 

 thousands of the birds, many of them still building their nests on 

 May "28, 1901. When passing by this spot on April 1, of the following 

 year, he found it quite deserted. Mr. Meade-Waldo also states that 

 a large number of Buff-backed Herons nest in the city of Marrakesh 

 (Ibis, 1903, p. 198 and p. 213). 



I use Rafinesque's name for this Heron, as his description appears 

 to apply fairly well to the bird, and there is no good reason to reject 

 it. That of A. ibis (Linn, in Hasselq. Voy. and Trav. p. 198, 1766), 

 although much older, seems to have been included by Linnams, in his 

 twelfth edition, as a synonym of his Tantalus ibis, or the Sacred Ibis, 

 and the description of the bird, moreover, does not well apply to the 

 present species. A. bubulcus, Audouin, the name by which the Buff- 

 backed Heron has of late generally been known, is of a later date than 

 Rafinesque's name. 



