22 AKDEIM] 



no specimen in existence to prove Thompson's assertion 

 that the Little Egret has visited Ireland on three occa- 



sions. 



FIG. 4. HEAD OF LITTLE EGRET. Nat. size. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Entire plumage beau- 

 tiful milky-white. From the back of the head proceed two 

 long slender plumes, while at the root of the neck and 

 especially along the back, the plumes are much lengthened, 

 soft and wavy. 2 (Figs. 3 and 4.) 



sold for ^5 5s., probably shot near that place." Possibly this is the 

 same specimen alluded to by Mr. Newstead (ante, p. 70), as the date is 

 exactly the same, and the locality in Yorkshire may have been subse- 

 quently added to the label under the impression that it had been killed 

 in that county." 



1 Mr. Ussher, in his 'Birds of Ireland' (p. 162), refers to the occur- 

 rences cited by Thompson of the Little Egret in Ireland, with all caution. 

 He gives the dates of the three records from Kerry, Cork and Wexford, 

 but adds that there is only one bird preserved. This is in the Trinity 

 College Museum, but the data of the label are not sufficient to prove 

 it is really an Irish specimen. 



2 The beautiful silky filiform plumes of the Egret, better known 

 among milliners as ' ospreys,' have been, and still are much sought after, 

 for ornamental purposes. In the Eastern countries the Egret feathers 

 are worn to adorn the head-dress of persons of the highest rank, and this 

 charming little Heron has been further victimised to supply "the 



