— 64 — 



Length about 36 inches. Entire plumage white. In the 

 spring the long dorsal " aigrette " plumes are assumed, but these 

 are lacking in winter. Iris yellow ; legs and feet blackish. 



281. Little Egret. Ardea garzetta Linnaeus. 



Herodias garzetta. Shelley, p. 268. 



Resident in Lower and in Upper Egypt, where it nests in 

 company with the buff-backed egret. After the breeding season 

 this egret seems to be subject to local migrations. 



Length about 21 inches. Entire plumage pure white. In 

 the breeding season a dorsal train of " aigrette " plumes, pure 

 white in colour, is assumed. Bill black ; legs black ; the feet 

 chrome yellow. 



282. Buff-backed Egret. Ardea ibis Linnaeus. Plate 31, 



figs. 25, 26. 

 Ardeola russata. Shelley, p. 268. 

 Though once extremely abundant in Egypt this handsome 

 resident egret became all but exterminated in the country by 

 plume hunters, and in 1912, when a law was passed for its pro- 

 tection, but two breeding colonies existed, one in Lower and one 

 in Upper Egypt. These two colonies have since then been in 

 the charge of the Zoological Service, and are guarded by watch- 

 men. The birds are now appearing in parts of the country 

 where they have not been seen for many years. It should be 

 stated that the destruction of these birds, for the sake of their 

 plumes, was carried out by Europeans, and not by the natives. 

 The latter apparently realize the good these birds do in destroy- 

 ing insect pests, for the food of the buff-backed egret consists 

 almost entirely of insects. 



This bird nests in colonies in trees close to and often in 

 villages, though in the Faiyum they used to nest in the tamarisk 

 bushes on the desert edge of the lake. 



Length about 20 inches. In winter the entire plumage is 

 white, tinged on the heads of adult birds with pale rufous orange. 

 In the breeding season only a large dorsal tuft of rufous orange 

 " aigrettes " is assumed, and the head bears a crest of hair-like 

 feathers of the same colour. In the breeding season the bill is 

 orange red, the legs and feet deep orange red. The colour of 

 the bill can apparently be changed at will by the breeding bird 

 to pale yellow. In the winter plumage the bill is pale yellowish 

 orange and the legs black. Immature birds have slaty black 

 bills and legs, but the bill soon changes to pale yellow. 



