250 



Heuglin remarks that it does not assume the nuptial dress until May or June ; but Mr. Stafford 

 Allen says that the long nuptial plumes begin to appear in April, though the complete breeding- 

 plumage is not attained until May. 



Mr. E. C. Taylor, speaking of its habits as observed by him in Egypt, describes it (Ibis, 1859, 

 p. 50) as " very tame and familiar. It does not frequent water, or marshy ground, like most of 

 its congeners, but especially affects the society of cattle ; I have often seen it standing on the 

 backs of buffaloes and cows. From this propensity to fraternize with cattle, it is called ' Cow- 

 bird ' by the English." And Mr. Ayres, writing from Natal, says (Ibis, 1863, p. 330) that " these 

 Herons are gregarious in their habits, roosting by night amongst the branches of trees which 

 overhang the small lakes that are plentiful in that part of the country. They appear to feed 

 entirely on ticks (Acari), which they pick from the cattle as they are feeding, walking alongside 

 of them and every now and then taking one off. They are wary birds, like most of the Herons, 

 and not easy of approach. The farmers in the neighbourhood have also, of course, great objection 

 to such useful birds being shot." 



The synonymy of this Heron is, as I have found to be the case with that of many of its 

 allies, by no means easy of elucidation. Many recent authors consider that it should be 

 generically separated from its allies ; but in this view I cannot concur. Nor can I agree that it 

 should bear the specific name of ibis, for the following reasons. Hasselquist's Ardea ibis is 

 certainly more probably the present species than the Sacred Ibis, with which both he and 

 Linnaeus confused it; but his name dates prior to 1766. In Linnseus's edition of Hasselquist's 

 journey, which bears date 1766 (I. c), he refers back to his tenth edition of the ' Systema 

 Naturae' (p. 144. no. 18), in which the bird is described as follows: — "Ardea ibis tota alba, 

 pedibus atris, unguibus arcuatis maximis ;" but in the twelfth edition Linnaeus includes this as 

 a synonym of his Tantalus ibis, which is certainly the Sacred Ibis ; and for that reason this name 

 must be discarded. The next name in order of date is that of Ardea lucida, Rafinesque ; but 

 here also the description is not sufficiently clear to identify his bird with the present species. 

 His description (I. c.) is : — " Tutta bianca lucente, con ciuffetto, rostro e piedi gialli, spazio nudo 

 fra il rostro e l'occhio bigio." Under these circumstances I think that the proper name to be 

 used is Ardea bubulcus, Audouin, respecting which there can be no doubt ; for Montagu, who 

 figured and described the Buff-backed Heron in 1813 (I. c), erroneously made use of the name 

 Ardea cequinoctialis, which had already been preoccupied by Linnaeus (Syst. Nat. i. p. 241) in 

 1776 for an American species. 



The specimen figured, on the same Plate with the Squacco Heron, is an adult male from 

 Spain, in full breeding-dress, and is in my own collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. JE. Dresser. 



a,d,b,2. Coto del Rey, Seville, Spain, May 1869 {Lord Lilford). c,d. Madagascar 1868 (Pollen and 

 Van Dam). 



E Mus. Brit. Beg. 



a, b, c. Egypt, d. Athens, e. Gambia. /. South Africa, g. Madagascar. 



