292 BIRDS. GfiALLATORES. 



A. egret la, Lin. Great Egret. Plumage pure white ; a pendant 

 crest on the head ; some long feathers on the back, with strong 

 shafts and loose slender webs ; legs long, slender ; a large naked 

 space above the knee ; claws very long. 3 feet 2 inches long. 

 Inhabits Europe. B Lewin's Brit. Birds, iv. pi. 150. 



A. garzetta, Lin. Little Egret. All the plumage pure white ; oc- 

 ciput with a pendant crest of two or three long and narrow fea- 

 thers ; a large tuft of similar feathers at the base of the neck ; 

 feathers of the upper part of the back elongated and silky ; bill 

 bluish. 2 feet long. Inhabits S. Europe. B. Shaw, xi. pi. 41. 



** Bill as long as, or a little longer than the head, much com- 

 pressed; upper mandible slightly bent. 



A. nycticorax, Lin. Night Heron. Head, occiput, back, and sca- 

 pulars, black, with blue and greenish reflections; three long 

 white feathers on the nape ; lower part of the back, wings, and 

 tail ash-coloured ; forehead, space between the eyes, throat, and 

 lower parts white ; bill black ; iris red. 1 foot 8 inches long. 

 Inhabits Europe. B. Shaw, xi. pi. 47- 



A. stellar is, Lin. Common Bittern. Top of the head and mou- 

 staches black ; ground colour of the plumage yellowish red, mark- 

 ed on the sides of the neck with zigzag brown lines, and upon 

 the fore part of the neck with brown and red spots ; on the lower 

 parts large black longitudinal stripes ; quills banded alternately 

 with red and gray. 2 feet 4 inches long. Inhabits Europe. B. 

 Shaw, xi. pi. 45. 



A. ralloides, Scopoli. The Squacco Heron. Crested, with the fore- 

 head and crown yellow, marked with longitudinal black spots ; 

 upper parts of the body rufous ; under parts, throat, rump, and 

 tail, white. 16 inches long. Asia and Africa. Shaw, xi. 573. 



A. minuta, Lin. Little Heron. Top of the head, occiput, back, 

 scapulars, secondary wing-feathers, and tail, of a fine black, with 

 greenish reflections ; sides of the head, neck, wings-coverts, and 

 lower parts reddish yellow ; quills black ash-coloured ; the young 

 with longitudinal brown spots on the breast. 13 inches long. 

 Inhabits Europe. B. Shaw, xi. pi. 44. 



Gen. 12. CICONIA, Tern. Ardea, Lin. 



Bill long, straight, stout, cylindrical, in the form of an elonga- 

 ted pointed cone ; ridge rounded, of equal height with the 

 head ; under mandible slightly bent upwards ; nostrils longi- 

 tudinally cleft in a groove of the horny substance ; eyes sur- 

 rounded with a naked space ; legs long ; the three anterior 

 toes united to the first joint, the hind toe jointed on the 

 same level as the others ; wings of moderate size. 



Storks live in marshy situations, and feed principally on reptiles, frogs, and their 

 spawn, as well as on fish, small mammiferous animals, and birds. Jn maiiy coun- 

 tries they are a privileged race, being cherished and protected on account of the 

 noxious animals which they destroy. They moult in autumn, migrate in large bo- 



