HERON. GRALLATORES. ARDEA. 19 



had seen the White Heron in England, considered.it to be 

 a distinct species, and not an accidental variety of the Com- 

 mon Heron. This supposition, however, unless it were con- 

 firmed by actual examination (which does not appear to have 

 been the case), cannot be considered as at all conclusive, 

 since white varieties of the Ardea cinerea are known to oc- 

 cur. PENNANT, in his British Zoology, expressly states 

 that it had never fallen within his observation, and merely 

 cites WILLOUGHBY'S authority for placing it among the Bri- 

 tish birds. Other compilers seem to have included it upon 

 no better authority ; and no farther evidence appears of its 

 visiting England, till MONTAGU published his Ornithologi- 

 cal Dictionary, in which, under the article " Great White 

 Heron," he says, " One of these birds (we are informed by 

 Dr LATHAM) was killed in Cumberland not many years 

 ago." In the Supplement to the same work, he further men- 

 tions, that a White Heron was observed in Devonshire, in 

 the autumn of 1805, often in company with three or four of 

 the common sort, and sometimes alone ; and that the Rev. 

 Mr VAUGHAN, who had frequent opportunities of observing 

 it, was of opinion, that, from its size, it must have been 

 Ardea alba, and not an accidental variety of Ardea cinerea. 

 I may add, that I have myself never met with it, nor have 

 I been able to trace an authenticated instance of its capture 

 in any part of Great Britain since the publication of MON- 

 TAGU'S work. Upon such inconclusive evidence as above men- 

 tioned, I dare scarcely venture to insert it even as one of our 

 rarest visitants; but as the possibility, or even probability, of 

 its occasionally visiting these islands is not to be questioned, 

 considering its geographical distribution, I have thought it 

 the safer course to retain it as such, rather than to dismiss Rarest vi- 

 it altogether from the list of our Fauna. By many of the sl1 

 later writers, Ardea alba has been confounded with Ardea 

 Egretta, an American species, and apparently its representa- 

 tive in the New World. Even TEMMINCK, whose character 

 as a descriptive ornithologist stands deservedly in the high- 



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