ARDEID^. 185' 



though at a long distance off ; it was, unfortunatelj-, xmsuccessful, and the' 

 bird at once flew away, and has never since been heard of." 



The South-American allied species,' Anlea egretta^ is an equally nuap-' 

 proachable bird. We possess the bill of one, as a trophy, which was shot 

 by Mr. G. F. Mathew, E.N., after a long stalls, on a day when he also 

 obtained a beautiful pair of tho American Egret, Anlea candidissima, 

 which we have in our collection. 



^Ir. E. H. liodd, of Penzance, received information from his nephew 

 that the coastguardsmen at Scilly had reported to him that a Great White 

 Heron for some time during the autumn of 1870 frequented the Hedge 

 liock, a favourite resort of Common Herons ; but the bird, being shot on 

 December ::!(Jth, proved to bo a Spoonbill (B. of Cornwall, pp. 21^2, 298).] 



Little Egret. Ardea (jarzetfa, Linn. 



An accidental visitor of very I'are occurrence. 



This beautiful Egret, a native of the Southern and Eastern portions of 

 the globe, has not been so fortunate as the preceding species, as it has 

 been secured in the very few instances in which it has been observed in 

 our West Country. 



The licv. Itobert Holdsworth, of Brixham, informed Mr. Yarrell that 

 in 181(J a bird was shot on Elatoars, a shoal in the river Dart, dry at low' 

 tide, which exactly corresponded with the description of the Egret in 

 Montagu's ' Ornithological Dictionary ' in its second year's plumage, being 

 tinged with grey on the neck and breast. One in the collection of 

 Mr. Xewton, of Millatnn Hall, Bridestow, is said by Dr. Moore to have 

 been obtained near Crediton (Howe's Peramb. Dartmoor, p. 234). Mr. J. 

 Brooking Howe speaks of " one or two on the Tamar" (Trans. Plj'm. Inst. 

 l8(i2-6;-i). 



An adult shot below Topsham on the Exe, in May 1878, was deposited 

 at our re(|uest in the A. M. M, by the owner, Mr. E. H. Harbottle, archi- 

 tect, and it has remained there ever since. We saw the bird in tiie hands 

 of Mr. Atkins, a bird-stuffer in Exeter, to whom it had been sent for 

 preservation, soon after it had been received by him (J. G., Zool. 

 1870, p. 2:i08 ; Harting's 'Handbook of J5. Birds,' p. 148 ; H. Saunders, 

 'YarrelFs B. Birds,' 4th ed. iv. p. 18."), and ' Manual of B. Birds,' p. 3(31). 

 All of ihe published records say it was killed at Countess Weir, but wo 

 believe it was obtained aliout two miles further down the estuary below 

 Topsham. ]Mr. Howard Saunders considers this specimen the onhj British- 

 killed example " about which there can be no doubt." 



Buff-backed Heron. Ardca luhulcus, Audouin. 



(The Little White Heron of Montagu was this bird in inuuaturo 

 jilumuge.] 



An accidental visitor of extremely rare occurrence. 



The Buff-backed Heron is u native of Southern Europe aiul of- Africa,- 



