BUFF-BACKED HERON 157 



five or six. They look snow-white, and are then 

 hard to tell from Spoonbill or Egret ; but they 

 ought not to be mistaken for the first -named 

 bird, for, being Herons, they fly as all Herons do, 

 with head tucked in, whilst the Spoonbill flies 

 with extended neck. This is a real resident bird. 

 Captain Shelley says it breeds in August in large 

 colonies in the sont trees, and that, in addition to 

 being useful to the poor cattle, it is of the greatest 

 use to Egypt, as it wages war on the locusts that 

 would otherwise devastate the green crops and all 

 growing things. 



I regret, however, that every year, according to 

 the best evidence, this bird is less and less seen. 

 Twenty-five years ago it was to be met with, off 

 and on, everywhere, and in the Delta it was 

 absolutely one of the commonest of birds. The 

 cause of its lessening numbers is not certain, but 

 when it is recalled that it is a form of Egret, and 

 that from Egrets come "aigrettes," one solution 

 is apparent. Against that view, however, in 

 common justice, I must say that I have no scrap 

 of evidence that these birds are at all largely 

 persecuted in Egypt, and they are, as already said, 

 a resident bird. Some undoubtedly migrate north ; 

 it may be they never return, and so the annual 



