104 BIRDS OF BRITISH GUIAXA. 



ten yards distant, tliey rose and floated over our heads. Every 

 dozen yards over the Savanna, a tall white fi;:ure stood motionless, 

 sileiitlv watching us — American Egrets distributed for their dav's 

 fishing, hundreds dotting the marsh, each solitary, statuesque/' 



Genus LEUCOPHOYX Sharpe. 



Ijeucophoyx Shaq^e, Bulletin of the British Omitholog^ists' Club, iii. 

 p. xxxix, 1894. Type L. thula (Molina^. 



This genus is distinguished by its smaller size, the nuchal crest 

 and ornanifntal disintegrated pectoral plumes, and the short dorsal 

 train which only reaches just beyond the tip of the tail. 



iri2. Leucoplioyx thula. 

 Ssowr Egret. 



Efjretta tliula (Molina), Sagg. Stor. Xat. Chili, p. 325, 1782 (ChiU) ; 



BralxjiuTie & Chubb, B. S. Amer. i. p. 49, no. 454, 1912. 

 Ardea nevia Cab. in Schorab. Reis. Guian. iii. p. 7o3, 1848. 

 Ardea candidissima Salvin, Ibis, 1886, p. 169 TBartica Grove) ; Quelch, 



Timehri (2) v. p. 107, 1891 (Georgetown^ ; Llovd, op. cit. xi. 



p. 9, 1897^ 

 Leucophoyx candidissima Sharpe, Cat B. Brit. Mas. xxv. pp. 124, 273, 



1898 (Savana of British Guiana). 

 Egret ta candidissima Beebe, Our Search for a Wilderness, p. lo4, 1910 



(Waini). 



Adult female (in summej' plumagd). Entirely white above and 

 below with a dorsal train, nuchal crest, and ornamental tuft on the 

 breast, each composed of disintegrated fe;ithers. 



Total length 470 mm., culmen 73, wing 220, tail 74, tarsus 7G, 

 middle toe and claw 60. 



We do not know the exact locality of the bird from which the 

 description is taken. 



Adult male (in summer plumage^. Similar to the adult female. 



Total length 545 mm., culmen i^^j, wing 2eJ5, tail 80, tarsus 100, 

 middle toe and claw 73. 



The winter plumage of the adult male and female differs from 

 the summer plumage in the absence of the ornamental plumes. 



Breeding-season. July and August (C. A. Lloyd). 



Nest. A very frail platform-nest of twigs (C. A. Lloyd). It 

 builds its nest on bushes near the coast (ScJiomhurgh) . 



Eggs. Dull pale blue colour, a little larger than that of a 

 Pigeon (C. A. Lloyd). 



