Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 269 
shallow ditch; the water was about halfway up his legs, and 
he was feeling about with his feet in the mud and stones at 
the bottom, very carefully and in a most comical manner, 
evidently trying to worry out a frog or a crab, in which he 
did not then succeed. 
These birds, when flying, utter, every now and then, a 
short, weak, metallic note, which one would not expect from 
a bird of that size. 
Heropias Garzerta (Linn.). Little Egret. 
Male, shot 31st July, apparently losing the nuptial dress. 
Trides pale ashy yellow, with an outer circle of brownish red ; 
bill black; skin round the eye and base of the bill whitish 
fulvescent ; tibize and tarsi black ; feet pale greenish yellow, 
the joints of the toes spotted with black on the upper sur- 
face. Stomach contained insects and small perch. 
ARDEA ARDESIACA, Wagl. Lesser African Schistaceous 
Heron. 
Male, very nearly adult, shot 3lst July. Irides umber- 
brown ; bill, tibiz, and tarsi black; feet orange, changing 
to yellow soon after death. Stomach crammed with small 
perch. 
This was a solitary bird that I had noticed for some time 
passing along the river, morning and evening, to and from 
his feeding-ground ; when shot he was leading a small flock 
of Herodias garzetta, and these were immediately followed by 
about fifty of the Sacred Ibis, all in flight towards their roost- 
ing-place. All these birds passed regularly to their favourite 
resorts in the morning, returning in the evening to more 
secluded spots to roost. 
[The bird sent had attained its adult dress, with the excep- 
tion of a very few immature feathers remaining unmoulted in 
the wings and on the underparts ; but its crest is considerably 
less developed than that of the fully adult male shot 21st 
February, and recorded in ‘The Ibis’ for 1878, p. 299.— 
Jp Gel] 
ARDEA RUFIVENTRIS, Sundev. Rufous-bellied Heron. 
Male, immature, shot 6th October. Irides greenish yellow, 
