188 AVES GRALLATORES. [ARDEA. 



DIMENS. Entire length one foot ten or eleven inches. TEMM. 



DESCRIPT. (Mature plumage in Summer.) The whole plumage pure 

 white : a pendent crest of long narrow feathers on the occiput : a tuft of 

 similar feathers, the webs silky and disunited, on the lower part of the 

 neck : dorsal plumes likewise of the same character, being of a soft silky 

 texture, with the shafts very much elongated, and floating loosely over 

 the back and tail from between the shoulders : bill black : lore and orbits 

 greenish : irides bright yellow : feet dusky green ; toes greenish yellow. 

 (Immature plumage, and adult in Winter.) The long silky plumes on the 

 occiput, back, and lower part of the neck, wanting. Tn very young birds, 

 the white is of a dull tint; the bill, lore, orbits, irides, and feet, black. 

 (Egg.) White. TEMM. 



An extremely rare and accidental visitant in this country, though sup- 

 posed to have been more plentiful formerly. Said to have been shot in 

 Anglesey, and also in Ireland, many years ago. More recently, in April 

 1824, two specimens are recorded to have been killed near Penzance in 

 Cornwall, and one of them to have been preserved. Common on some 

 parts of the Continent. Said to breed in marshes, and to lay four or 

 five eggs. 



175. A. russata, Wagler. (Buff-backed Heron.) 

 Occiput, nape, and hind-neck, saffron-yellow : wings, tail, 

 and under parts, pure white. 



A. russata, Wagler, Syst. Av. part i. sp. 12. A. aequinoctialis, 

 Mont, in Linn. Trans, vol. ix. p. 197. Little White Heron, 

 Mont. Orn. Diet. Supp. with fig. Buff-backed Heron, Selb. 

 Illust. vol. n. p. 24. 



DIMENS.* Entire length twenty inches six lines : length of the bill 

 (from the forehead) two inches two lines, (from the gape) two inches ten 

 lines ; of the tarsus three inches ; of the naked part of the tibia one inch 

 one line ; of the middle toe, claw included, two inches nine lines ; of the 

 tail four inches ; from the carpus to the end of the wing ten inches. 



DESCRIPT. (Mature plumage.) " Occiput, nape, and hinder part of 

 the neck, clothed with rigid open feathers of a saffron yellow : throat, 

 front part of the neck and breast, white, tinged with sienna-yellow : long 

 flowing plumes of the back ochre-yellow : wings, tail, and under parts 

 of the body, pure white." SELBY. (Immature plumage.) " The whole 

 plumage snow white, excepting the crown of the head, and the upper 

 part of the neck before, which are buff: the skin 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, giving a dingy shade to the white 

 plumage of those parts : feathers on the back of the head somewhat 

 elongated, but scarcely forming a crest: those on the lower part of the 

 neck before, rather more elongated, hanging loosely over the upper part 

 of the breast : tail slightly forked, and so short as to be entirely covered 

 by the wings when folded : bill, lore, and orbits, orange-yellow : irides 

 pale yellow : legs nearly black, with a tinge of green." MONT. 



A single individual of this species, in immature plumage, and probably 

 a young bird of the year, is recorded by Montagu to have been shot near 

 Kingsbridge in Devonshire, the latter end of October 1805. This spe- 

 cimen, which is now in the British Museum, is the only one that has 



* These measurements were taken from Montagu's original specimen. 



