186 THE BIRDS OF DETOX. 



which has twice been met with in South Devon, and these are still, we 

 believe, the onh' instances of its occurrence in the British Isles. In his 

 ' Ornitholnf>;ical Dictionary,' Col. Montagu writes : — " We had the honour of 

 announcing this species for the first time as British in the ' Transactions ' 

 of the Linnean Society, a female having been shot near Kingsbridge, the 

 latter end of October, 1805, which was placed in our collection Ijy a 

 gentleman to whom we are obliged on many similar occasions, Mr. Nicholas 

 Luscombe, of that place .... This elegant little species of Heron had been 

 Been for several days in the same field attending some cows *, and picking 

 up insects, which were found in its stomach. It was by no means shy, 

 but suffered a bungling marksman to fire twice before he could kill it. 

 The situation where it was shot is the southernmost promontory of Devon, 

 very near the coast, between the Start and the Prawle." A great many 

 years had to pass before the second British specimen was secured. In the 

 ♦Zoologist' for 1851 (]). 31 lO), Mr. Clevland, of Tapeley Park, Bideford, 

 states that he had received a very fine specimen of the Little White Heron 

 (Arilea i-Hssata) which had been shot in the south of Devon in the April 

 of that year. Mr. Yarrell was informed by the Rev. Robert Iloldsworth 

 that Col, Montagu's specimen was shot by Mr. W. F. Cornish, at South 

 Allington, in the ])arish of Chivelstone. It is still preserved in the gallery 

 of British Birds in the National Collection at South Kensington, but is now 

 somewhat grimy from age. This species is very common in the South of 

 (Spain, where it finds its chief European stronghold. Mr. H. Saunders 

 ('Yarreirs British liirds,' 4th ed, vol. iv. p. ISUjstates that thousands may 

 be seen in the ni;irshes of Andalucia amongst the cattle, often seated on their 

 backs and ](icking off ticks, from this practice gaining from the natives 

 a name which signifies " cattle-cleaners." A very closely allied species is 

 common in India, nesting around the tanks, and we have its eggs in our 

 collection. The adult male of the Buff-backed Heron is a very handsome 

 bird, snowy white in plumage, with the exception of the crown of the 

 head and the up])er ])art of the neck in front, which are bright reddish 

 bufT. A beautiful plume of hair-like feathers of huffish red depends from 

 the breast, and another plume of similar coloured hair}' feathers springs 

 from the lower part of the back and extends beyond the tail. 



SquaCCO Heron. Ardea rallo/des, Scop. 



An accidental visitor of occasional occurrence. 



The Squacco, slightly smaller than the preceding species of Heron, to 

 which it has some superficial resemblances, is a much more frequent 

 straggler to the South-west of England, having occurred five times in 

 Devonshire, at least a dozen times in Cornwall, chieHy in the J^and's 

 End district, and four times in Dorsetsliire. In the county of Somerset 



♦ This species of Heron is very fond of attending upon cattle, as are other members 

 of the Heron family, and has gained its specific name " bubulcus," the herdsman, from 

 that habit. 



