184 THE BIKDS OF DEVOX. 



shop in Stonehousc, which had been shot on the Tamar, Oct. 30th, ISol 

 (Zool. 1859, p. 0376). 



The Kev. U. Tugwell mentions this species as a " rare visitor " to Xorth 

 Devon, but he gives no instances of its occurrence, and we have no know- 

 ledge of any specimen having been obtained in that part of the county. 



In Cornwall four specimens of the Pur]jle Heron have been secured, 

 which were all seen in the flesh by Mr. E. H. Eodd. A very fine example 

 in perfect summer plumage, which we saw in that gentleman's rich collec- 

 tion, was shot in a sedgy grove at Killiow House, near Truro : another 

 fine adult in beautiful plumage was shot on April Sth, 1850, in the parish 

 of St. Buryan, within five miles of the Land's End ; another, a female speci- 

 men, was sent to Yingoe, the Penzance bird-stufter, from the neighbourhood 

 of the Lizard, on April 24th, 1867 ; and on Sept. 2nd, 1878, an immature 

 bird was forwarded to Mr. Eodd from the Scilly Islands. 



We know of no Somerset Purple Herons ; but two have been obtained 

 in Dorsetshire, one shot at Hyde, by Mr. Radclyffe, and another in 1848, 

 from the neighbourhood of Dorchester, is in the collection of Mr. Henning 

 (Mansel-Pleydell, ' Birds of Dorset,' p. 129). 



[Great White Heron, Ardea alia, Linn. 



An accidental visitor whose occurrence is doubtful, as no specimen has 

 been obtained, and onlj- one is supposed to have been seen, in this county. 



A Heron, pure white all over, with jet-black legs, would easily be dis- 

 tinguished at a considerable distance; so that it is not likely that any 

 exam])les of this rare straggler from the South of Europe can have visited 

 this country and have escaped detection. Indeed, there are instances on 

 record in which it has been seen and not obtained, for it possesses all the 

 wariness of the Common Heron and is well able to take care of itself. It is 

 about the same size as our well-known English species. In the Supplement 

 to his ' Ornithological Dictionary' Col. Montagu announced its first recorded 

 appearance in the West of England : — " A White Heron made its appear- 

 ance on the borders of the river Avon, in Devonshire, in the autumn of 

 the year 1805, where it was frequently observed in company •with three or 

 four of the common species, and sometimes alone. The liev. Kerr Vaughan, 

 rector of Aveton Gifford, who had frequent oj^portunities of observing it, 

 and used every means to procure it, thinks from its apparently su])erior 

 size it must have been Ardea aJha, and not a lusus variety of Ardea 

 major (cinerea) ; but its extreme wariness disappointed the many attem])ts 

 to shoot it, although it continued within the range of a few miles for two 

 months." In his ' Cornish Eauna' Dr. Bullmore reports a Great White 

 Heron having been seen at Penzance, on Feb. 4, 1866: — "A White 

 Heron was observed in comi>any with two of the common species under the 

 cliffs at Penzance. It remained on the coast several days, but was so sshy 

 and wary that it never sufi'cred its pursuers to approach within gunshot. 

 One morning, however, just at daylight, a friend of mine lisked a shot, 



