HERONS. 2 
preceding species occur in great numbers on the inland waters of Sind; and both, 
like the common heron, are kept in confinement by the fishermen. Mr. Hume says 
that a single boat of about twenty feet in length will contain “a man and _ his 
wife, an old man, some relatives, six children, six or eight herons (grey and white), 
a couple of cormorants, a kid, a dog, and otter-spears, nets, lines, hooks, and the 
like, of all descriptions.” 


LITTLE EGRET (} nat. size). 
Among other species, brief reference must be made to the beautiful 
buff-backed heron (A. bubulcus)', which is so common along the 
banks of the Nile, and is frequently pointed out to tourists as the sacred ibis. 
During the breeding-season this bird has the plumage of the head, neck, and breast, 
rufous buff, and some long plumes on the back also of the same tint; the remainder 
being white, with a tinge of creamy on the wing-coverts. The beak is reddish at 
the base, and yellow at the tip; the eye and lore are golden pink; and the limbs 
yellowish red. This bird always displays great partiality for cultivated grounds, 
feeding not only upon frogs and locusts, but likewise on worms and larve turned 
up by the plough, as well as on ticks from the backs of cattle, 
habit it is frequently termed the cattle-egret. The squacco heron (A. ralloides) is 
Other Species. 
from which 

1 Sometimes referred to a distinct genus Bubuleus. 
