532 ARDEID.E. 



terscapulars reddish brown ; the feathers of the back 

 elongated ; the webs disunited, each filament having the 

 appearance of a single hair, from which circumstance the 

 term comata, hairy, has been applied to more than one 

 species ; the colour a pale reddish brown in those upon the 

 surface, passing into a delicate buff colour in those under- 

 neath ; the wings white, the ends of some of the coverts 

 and tertials being tinged with buff; rump, upper tail-coverts 

 and tail-feathers white ; chin, throat, belly, under surface 

 of the wings, the axillary plume, vent, and under surface of 

 the tail-feathers, pure white ; legs yellowish brown ; toes 

 brown above, yellow underneath ; claws black. 



Whole length from the point of the beak to the end of 

 the tail, about nineteen inches. From the carpal joint to 

 the end of the wing, nine inches : the first and third quill- 

 feathers are equal in length, and only a very little shorter 

 than the second, which is the longest in the wing. 



The sexes in plumage resemble each other at the same 

 age. 



In a younger bird, the descending dusky grey streaks on 

 the feathers of the neck are longer and broader, and the 

 lighter ground colour more mixed with brown ; the wing- 

 coverts tinged with buff ; but the plumage of the back, and 

 the ends of the tertials are reddish brown ; and I have ob- 

 served that the younger the specimen the darker are the 

 feathers along the middle line of the back. 



I have just heard by a communication from Sir George 

 Musgrave, to Mr. Jesse, that a specimen of the Squacco 

 Heron was shot during the second week of the present 

 month, July 1845, near Kirkoswald, a village on the Eden, 

 Cumberland. The bird was observed in a meadow, close 

 to the river. 



