474 ARDEA IBIS. 
as we had to thread through the tortuous channels which were not overgrown 
with aquatic herbage we must have traversed fully sixteen miles before we 
arrived there.... Overhead a constant stream of Pigmy Cormorants 
(Phalacrocorax pygm@us) was passing from and to the breeding-place, and also 
many Lesser Egrets (Ardea garzetta) and Squacco Herons (Ardea ralloides). . . . 
When we approached the colony the continual noise told us that a great number 
of young were hatched, which we found to be the case, but they were chiefly 
those of the Pigmy Cormorant and comparatively few Herons.... ' We did 
not penetrate into the middle of the colony, as there were lots of nests on the 
outskirts and the bushes were very thick, so that it was difficult to force the 
canoes through. The bushes were chiefly those of Salix cinerea and Fraxinus 
excelsior, and were growing in water from 4 ft. to 5 ft. deep, and extending to 
from 5 ft. to 7 ft. above the surface. We only found three species breeding 
here, viz. the Lesser Egret, Squacco Heron, and the Pigmy Cormorant, and 
there were probably 100 to 150 pairs of each of the former, and seVeral hundred 
pairs of the Pigmy Cormorant. The nests of all were constructed of small 
* sticks and twigs, and from four to six nests were on some of the larger bushes, 
and were, as a rule, not placed higher than I could look into or reach by 
standing in the canoe. I only took a few clutches of fresh eggs, as I did not 
want to disturb the colony more than it was strictly necessary to do.”] 
i 
ARDEA IBIS (Linneus). 
BUFF-BACKED HERON. 
§ 5295. Zwo.—From M. Parzudaki, 1856. 
[These have the look of being genuine; and M. Parzudaki had many 
opportunities of receiving eggs of this species from Algeria ; but he did not give 
Mr. Wolley any information as to whence these came. ] 
§ 5296. Three—Lake Halloula, Metidja, 13, 14 June, 1856. 
From Mr. Tristram, 1858. 
Lots 185 and 191 at Mr. Stevens’s rooms, 9 February, 1858. 
‘ 
§ 5297. Four.—Lake Halloula, 13 June, 1856. From 
Mr. Tristram, 1858. : 
[Canon Tristram’s all too brief notes on this species at this locality are in 
‘ The Ibis’ for 1860 (p. 163); but in-his Sale Catalogue of 10 February, 1857, 
he stated that “ The only known breeding-places of this bird in North Africa 
are Lake Halloula and a lake between Bona and Tunis. Here the Buff- 
backed, Squacco, and Night Herons and the Glossy Ibis all breed in 
