24 GRALLATORJ3S. ARDEA. HERON. 



BUFF-BACKED HERON. 



ARDEA RUSSATA, Wagler. 

 PLATE V. 



Ardea russata, Wagler, Syst. Av. part i. sp. 12. 



Ardea affinis, Horsf. in Linn. Trans. 13. 189. sp. 4. 



Ardea minor alia vertice croceo, Aldr&v. 



Ardea aequinoctialis, var. B. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 697- 



Ardea comata, var. B. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 687. sp. 39. 



Le Crabier de la cote de Coromandel, Buff. PL Enl. 910. 



Ardea aequinoctialis, Steph. Shaw's Zool. 11. 571. pi. 43, but not the syno- 

 nyms. 



Little White Heron, Mont. Orn. Diet. Sup. but only a part of the syno- 

 nyms. 



THE confusion in which the history of this species has 

 been involved, by the appropriation of synonyms to which 

 it had no claim, has been removed by the fortunate discri- 

 mination of WAGLER, in the first part of his " Systema 

 Avium," under genus Ardea, where those only are quoted 

 which can strictly be referred to it. The geographical dis- 

 tribution of this Heron embraces the three divisions of the 

 ancient world, being found in the warmer parts of Europe, 

 and also in Asia and Africa. In America it is not known, 

 the Ardea aqumoctialis, with which it has been confounded, 

 being a species perfectly distinct, and confined to that conti- 

 Rarest vi- nent. In Britain, it is a rare visitant ; and the first instance 

 of its capture is recorded by MONTAGU, in the 9th vol. of 

 the Transactions of the Linnean Society, under the title of 

 Ardea cequinoctialis. He afterwards described it more fully 

 in the Supplement to the Ornithological Dictionary, under 

 the name of the " Little White Heron? This specimen, 

 which was a female, and apparently in the plumage of the 

 first year, was shot in October 1805, near to KingVbridge, 

 in the southern part of Devonshire, where it was seen for 

 several days previous in the same field, amongst some cows, 

 and picking up insects, Of its habits, I am unable to give 

 any detailed account. The following is MONTAGU'S descrip- 

 tion of this individual : 



