2 . : 6 



^ofwft Male in summer (Seville, May) . Feathers on the crown and nape elongated, hair-like, rich reddish- 

 buff in colour ; fore part of the back pale buffy yellow ; from the lower back a large bunch of hair-like 

 bright rufous-buff plumes spring, and extend beyond the tail ; and a similar but shorter bunch covers 

 the lower throat ; rest of the plumage pure white ; iris, beak, and legs yellow ; bare space in front of 

 the eye greenish yellow. Total length about 17 inches, gape 2'8, wing 9 - 7, tail 3 - 9, tarsus 3 - 2, bare 

 portion of the tibia l - 25. 



Adult Female (Seville, May). Resembles the male; but the rufous buff plumes are much shorter, paler and 

 yellower, and in general size the bird is smaller. 



Adult in ivinter. Entire plumage uniform creamy white, except the crown, which is pale rufous buff; bill 

 and iris yellow ; legs dark brown or dull blackish grey. 



Young (Madagascar) . Crown semicrested, dull rufescent ochreous ; rest of the plumage white, except that 

 the back is tinged with pale buff ; legs dull greenish yellow. 



The present species inhabits Southern Europe and the continent of Africa generally; but it 

 ranges only a short distance into Asia, being replaced in India, China, Japan, and the Malay 

 archipelago by Ardea coromanda (Bodd.). 



In Great Britain this species has been shot on three occasions : one, a female, was, according 

 to Montagu (I.e.), shot late in October 1805, near Kingsbridge, Devon, where it had been seen 

 for several days in the same field attending some cows ; a second example, Mr. Stevenson says 

 (B. of Norf. ii. p. 151), was shot at Martham, near Yarmouth, in 1827; and a third is recorded 

 in the 'Zoologist' (1851, p. 3116) as having been procured in South Devon in April 1851. 



It has not been obtained in Scandinavia, Northern Russia, North Germany, Holland, 

 Belgium, or Northern France ; but it is said to be an accidental straggler to the southern 

 departments of the last country. In Portugal, according to Professor Barboza du Bocage, it is 

 not uncommon. And Dr. E. Key writes (J. f. O. 1872, p. 155) that there is a large tract of 

 land near Lagos which is regularly more or less submerged at high water ; at low tide it is 

 numerously frequented by many of the Herons, amongst others by the present species, which 

 was in great abundance, and was said by the natives to be resident there. In Spain it is common, 

 and, to some extent, resident in suitable localities. Colonel Irby states (Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 185) 

 that " the Buff-backed Heron is very common in low-lying districts in Andalucia, and some are 

 resident ; but they are very irregular in their movements, and chiefly noticed while passing 

 during March and April, as they always attend cattle when in wet marshy ground. The Spanish 

 herdsmen naturally object to have them molested, especially as there is a story of a sporting 

 Briton from Gibraltar having shot one as it sat on a cow's back — a story which I am afraid is 

 founded on fact, and only shows what the Englishman is capable of. 



" The local names of this Heron all originate from its habit of attending cattle and freeing 

 them from parasites — Garrapatosa from garapata, a tick or louse; Purgabueyes, cattle-cleaner 

 or purifier. 



"A male bird, which had been kept alive for about four years in the patio of the Fonda de 

 Europa, at Seville, during the first week in April (his fifth spring, as far as I could ascertain) 

 began to change the colour of the legs and the basal half of both mandibles to a pinkish red; 



