334 Messrs. Elvves and Buckley on the Birds of Turkey. 



251. Ardea garzetta, L. 



Arrives in large numbers on the Danube about the first week 

 in May, and breeds in colonies in company with the Squacco- 

 and Purple Herons. One of the large islands below Rustchuk 

 is a great breeding-place for Herons ; but they had not arrived 

 on the 2nd of May. In a dense thicket of willows, at this time 

 of the year four feet deep in water, there are hundreds of nests ; 

 and a friend who visited the same spot a month later found 

 them all tenanted by three or four different species of Herons. 



252. Ardea ralloides. Scop. 



Arrives about the same time as the last, and breeds in com- 

 pany with it on the Danube. 



253. Ardea minuta, L. 



Common in Bulgaria, where it is a summer visitor, and breeds 

 in colonies with the last two species. 



254. Ardea nycticorax, L. 



Not uncommon in Bulgaria, where we first observed it on 

 March 31st. 



255. BOTAURUS STELLARIS (L.) . 



Found near Constantinople, and not uncommon on the 

 Danube. 



256. Platalea leucorodia, L. 

 Found in Epirus by Lord Lilford. 



257. CicoNiA ALBA, Bcchst. 



Very common all over the country, arriving in the beginning 

 of April. There is hardly a village or farm in Turkey without 

 its pair of Storks ; and in some places nearly every house has a 

 nest on the roof. As the Stork is protected and regarded as a 

 bird of good omen by Turks, Greeks, and Bulgarians alike, it is 

 very tame and familiar, and always takes up its quarters close to 

 a house. The eggs are laid at the end of April, and are sat 

 upon by male and female in turn. 



258. CiCONIA NIGRA. 



The Black Stork is by no means numerous ; but a pair is 

 found here and there in most parts of Bulgaria. It arrives at 



