FROM THE EAST. 527 



101. ARDEA GARZETTA. Little Egret. 



This heron was tolerably common at the lakes of Birket- 

 el-Karun and Menzaleh, but was never seen elsewhere. 



102. ARDEA BUBULCUS. Buff-backed Heron. 



From Alexandria far into Upper Egypt one of the com- 

 monest birds in all fields and gardens, even near the outer 

 houses of Cairo, and by the banks of the Kile and canals. 

 Large flocks follow the fellaheen as they plough, and keep 

 within a few paces of them, while all grazing herds are sur- 

 rounded by these birds, which have almost become domesticated. 



103. ARDEA COMATA. Squacco Heron. 



Only once seen among large flocks of Buff-backed Herons 

 on a wet plot of the Shubra gardens near Cairo. 



104. ARDEA NYCTICORAX. Night-Heron. 



First observed in a grove of palms at Keneh, in Upper 

 Egypt, where these herons pass the night. At Cairo I found 

 a very large colony of them nesting on a clump of pines 

 which ornament an artificial mound in the Shubra gardens. 

 Along the Jordan valley we saw several of these birds among 

 the thickets of the watercourses, and in the middle of April 

 we found them among the pine woods and bushes of the 

 island of Lacroina in Dalmatia. 



105. REYNCH^EA CAPENSIS. Painted Snipe. 



Great numbers of these beautiful and incredibly tame birds 

 were seen on a narrow little bit of the great marsh at Is- 

 mailia. They rise within a few paces, and fly only a short 

 distance, their flight being truly rail-like, but rather lighter 

 than that of our Water-Rail, and instead of running off and 

 cleverly concealing themselves, they wait for the sportsman 

 to come up again. 



