Class II. EGRET HERON. 21 



Ardea Garzetta. A. occipite Ardea alba ininor. Rati Syn. 6. Egret. 



cristato, corpore albo, rostro av. QQ. 



nigro, loris pedibusque vi- Dwarf Heron. Barhot, 2Q, 



rescentibus. Lath. Ind. orn. L' Aigrette. Brissonav.v.43\. 



694. id. Syn. v. 90. Hist, d'ois. vii. 372. PL 



Lesser White Heron. JVil. Enl. QOl. 



orn. 280. Kleiner Weisser Rager. JTmm. 



Ardea Garzetta. Gm. Lin. 345. 



628. Jrct. Zool. ii. 147. 



W E once received out of Anglesey, the fea- 

 thers of a bird shot there, which we suspect to 

 be the Egret; this is the only instance perhaps 

 of its being recently found in England. One 

 was shot in Ireland in the year 1793. That 

 it was formerly very frequent here, appears 

 by some of the old bills of fare : in the famous 

 feast of Archbishop Nexiill, we find no less 

 than a thousand Asterides* Egrets or Egrit- 

 tes, as it is differently spelt. Perhaps the 

 esteem they were in as a delicacy during those 

 days, occasioned their extirpation in our islands ; 

 abroad they are still common, especially in the 

 southern parts of Europe, where they appear in 

 flocks. 



The Egret is a most elegant bird ; it weighs Descrip- 

 about one pound ; the length to the end of the 



TION. 



* Godwin de Prcesul. Angl. com. Leland's Collect. 



