BUFF-BACKED HERON. 



465 



eye ; the upper mandible is slightly curved ; the beak yellow ; 

 the legs are yellow, but the joints and the toes are darker, 

 and tinged with lead colour. 



Males and females are alike in plumage. 



The young specimen obtained by Montagu is thus describ- 

 ed : — The length is about twenty inches ; the bill two inches 

 long to the feathers on the forehead, and of an orange yellow ; 

 the lore and orbits the same ; irides pale yellow. The whole 

 plumage is snowy white, except the crown of the head, and 

 the upper part of the neck before, which are buff: legs three 

 inches and a half long, and one inch and a half bare space 

 above the joint; these parts are nearly black, with a tinge of 

 green ; the toes and claws are of the same colour ; the middle 

 claw pectinated. 



The skin was of a very dark colour, almost black, so that 

 on the cheeks and sides of the neck, where the feathers are 

 thin, it is partly seen, or at least gives a dingy shade to the 

 white plumage of those parts. 



On the back of the head the feathers are a little elongated, 

 but scarcely to be called a crest ; on the lower part of the 

 neck before, the feathers are more elongated, and though not 

 slender, hang detached over the upper part of the breast : the 

 tail when closed is in a slight degree forked, and so short as 

 to be entirely covered by the wings when they are folded. 



VOL. II. 2h 



