60 Dr. Henry Giglioni on the Birds observed at Pisa 



of autumn, during the passage southwards, the young form by 

 far the majority. Herodias egretta is very rare, and I have not 

 seen it ; but the smaller Herodias garzetta is much more abun- 

 dant, and on the 15th of last April I saw a flock of ten lazily 

 flapping over the Arno in front of our house, their snow-white 

 plumage making a fine contrast with the dark foliage which 

 borders the river. On the 30th of April, during a rowing-trip 

 with a friend down the Arno, I observed two white birds wading 

 about a sand-bank near the river^s mouth, which, when we got 

 nearer, proved to be the rare Buphus russatus, or Buff"-backed 

 Heron, so common in Egypt — a species which is certainly quite 

 distinct from the Buphus coromandelicus of South-eastern Asia, 

 though many naturalists persist in confounding the two together. 

 The beautiful Squacco Heron [Ardeola ralloides) abounds in May, 

 and I have seen flocks of it on the fenny flats between this place 

 and Leghorn; it prefers the places where cattle are grazing. 

 The diminutive Ardetta minuta is also common, but is rarely seen, 

 as it skulks about the reeds and long grass. The Night-Herons 

 [Nycticorax griseus) arrive in May ; they are mostly adult indi- 

 viduals ; and after dusk their melancholy '' qua-a " may often be 

 heard along the Arno, while their white ghost-like silhouettes 

 may be seen through the increasing gloom stalking about on 

 the sand-banks in the river. The long white feathers which 

 form the occipital crest in this species vary much in number: I got 

 a specimen with as many as six ; three is, I believe, the ordinary 

 number. The Bittern {Botaurus stellaris) remains occasionally 

 all the year round in the Pisan Marshes ; I found it common in 

 early spring. 



The Black Stork {Ciconia nigra) is said to breed in the neigh- 

 bouring fens ; but I have come across neither it nor the white 

 species, Ciconia alba. The Glossy Ibis [Ibis falcinellus) passes 

 here pretty regularly in the latter half of April, stopping about 

 a month : I saw three flying over the marshes of San Rossore in 

 May. 



We have three species of Curlew here — the Numenius arquata, 

 the N.phaopus, and the N. tenuirostris : this last is the rarest and 

 most interesting. I had the pleasure of seeing several, in April, 

 on an islet at the Bocca d'Arno. Their presence in Tuscany appears 



