Birds of Madagascar. 109 



to be formed into a special famil}^, Mesitidte : lie terms them 

 <f very curious and specialized birds^ taking their place be- 

 tween the Rails and the Herons." He says further that, 

 " according to the native accounts, when tlic nests of these 

 Mesites, which are mostly placed in a low situation, are 

 flooded, the parent birds drag them to where they will be free 

 from injury by the water. If anyone takes their young tliey 

 follow them into the village, and on account of this love for 

 their offspring they are considered sacred [fadij) by the 

 Betsimisaraka, because, say the natives, they are in this respect 

 like human beings/^ There are two species of this bird, tlie 

 Variegated and the Uniform ; the former of which is known 

 by the odd name of Rbatclo, lit. " Two-three,'^ the reason 

 for which is not at all clear. 



VII.— The Herons. 



The four families into which the Order of Ilerodiones or 

 Herons is divided are all represented in Madagascar, and in- 

 clude three-and-twenty species belonging to the True Herons, 

 the Storks, the Spoonbills and Ibises, and the Flamingoes. 

 Of these birds more than half the number belong to one 

 genus, the Herons (^Ardea), which is thus the most nume- 

 rously represented genus in the island, as will be seen by the 

 tabulated List. 



(1) As M. Grand idler observes, the coasts of Madagascar 

 are particularly favourable for such birds as tlie Herons, 

 especially the north-Avest and some other localities, where nu- 

 merous estuaries are surrounded by trees. Some of the 

 species, being regarded as sacred by the natives, are less shy 

 than these birds are in Europe ; while others, again, are very 

 wary and most difficult to approach. In habits and feeding 

 these Madagascar Herons are much like the European and 

 African species, mostly living on fishes, moUusks, and Crus- 

 tacea, the larger ones devouring reptiles and small birds and 

 mammals, while the smaller kinds are insectivorous. They are 

 often found in companies, including several different species, 

 settled on the trees overhanging or near watei', and remain- 

 ing perfectly motionless for a long time. Some of the 



