6932 _ Birds. 



"The great white heron {Egretta leuce ?) is not much less in size, 

 but so far as my observations hereabouts have extended, is only a 

 transient visitor during the heavy rains. Towards the latter end of 

 October and beginning of November their stately forms might be 

 seen here and there at the margin of the little rivers, -where they cross 

 the belt of swamp all along the coast. In this valley I never 

 saw more than two. The one I shot, a female, proved smaller 

 in dimensions than the male procured last spring in Vere. Instead, 

 however, of keeping to the river as the great heron [Ardea Herodias), 

 they were particularly fond of walking gracefully round the edge of 

 the little glassy pools among the pebbles, or standing motionless over 

 their own fair shadows watching the movements of the shoals of little 

 fish. They crouch as the preceding species, so that the breast 

 touches the water, and then, darting the head in different directions, 

 snap up their prey with great rapidity. It was whilst doing this I 

 succeeded in approaching near enough to shoot this wary bird. 

 Their habits, in other respects, greatly resemble those I have detailed 

 of the larger bird. They rise at a great distance, stop to watch 

 at about one hundred yards, and then, if disturbed, the almost con- 

 stant habit of the bird 1 saw most of was to circle slowly till 

 it reached a withered bough of a tall solitary tree, in one of the pas- 

 tures, and there, as conspicuous an object as dazzling white plumage 

 in the blaze of a tropical mid-day could make it, maintain a vigilant 

 look out. Towards evening he might again be seen floating over the 

 windings of the river in search of a fishing-ground. The season 

 since this period has been unusually dry and fine, and I have seen 

 nothing more of them. Notwithstanding their size, they do not 

 seem to reject very small insect-prey, as I found the stomach to con- 

 tain the elytrae of water-beetles as well as small Crustacea and 

 a small species of Gobius. 



" The next in size is a much less bird, but snow-white also. The 

 bill is black all but the base, which, like the skin of the face, is 

 bright yellow. The tarsi are black in front, behind of the same 

 colour as the toes, a greenish yellow. This I presume to be the spe- 

 cies you have identified as Egretta candidissima. The occipital, 

 scapular and dorsal plumes are more filamentous than with the other 

 two white species, and give a lace-like appearance to the snowy plu- 

 mage extremely beautifiil. It is the only one of our Ardeadae (except 

 perhaps occasionally E. caerulea) which can be said to be sociable, 

 and it is so to a great degree. I never fell in with it at all in 

 the South-West : but about Milk River and the Great Morass called 



