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and will frequently admit of a close approach, though in some localities it is described as being 

 extremely shy, having doubtless been much persecuted. It walks with greater ease and grace 

 than most of its allies ; but, like them, when intent on catching some unlucky frog, it will move 

 along in the peculiar slow manner so characteristic of the Herons and Bitterns. It flies with 

 tolerable ease, and rather swiftly, but softly and without noise, the legs being stretched out 

 behind and the head drawn in, but not so much so as in many of the other species. It is said 

 to affect the company of cattle, like its ally Ardea bubulcus, being especially fond of swine ; and 

 Naumann relates that he often shot specimens of the Squacco Heron in places frequented by 

 large herds of pigs, as there these birds were quite tame and easy of approach, and that when 

 flushed in a neighbouring swamp he has seen this Heron fly to the swine as if for refuge. The 

 call-note of the Squacco Heron is a harsh call like the syllable charr; but it is not loud, and can 

 only be heard when the bird is quite close. When flushed it will sometimes utter its cry once 

 or twice, but it usually flies off in silence. It feeds on fish, frogs, and aquatic insects of various 

 kinds, worms, and small shellfish, and seeks its food by day and never during the night, though it 

 may be found fishing quite late in the evening. 



It breeds in marshy localities in Southern Europe and in Africa, nesting on the ground 

 amongst the aquatic herbage, and lays four or five eggs, which are uniform pale greenish blue in 

 colour, much darker than those of the Buff-backed Heron, and about the same tinge as those of 

 the Purple Heron. Eggs in my collection, taken on the Theiss from the 20th May to the 2nd 

 June, vary in size from 1^§ by 1^ to If ^j by T 4 ^ inch. 



The specimen figured, on the same Plate with the Buff-backed Heron, is an adult male, in 

 full summer dress, from Spain, in my own collection. 



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



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 

 a, 6 , 6, ? . Seville, June 1869 {Lord Lilford). c, 2jun. Khathane, Turkey, May 19th, 1869 {Robson). 



E Mus. C. A. Wright. 

 a,b,2. Malta, May 26th, 1871. c, 2 . Malta, April 1871 (C. A. W.). 



5o 



