KGRETTA. — AEDEOLA. 193 



Indian Peninsula and Ceylon. In eastern Asia it is repre- 

 sented by a closely allied race, E. a. timoriensis, and in North 

 and South America by U. a. egretta. 



Egretta garzetta. Little Egret. 



Ardea garzetta LinncBUs, Syst. Nat. 12th ed. i. 1766, 

 p. 237 : " in Oriente." 



Ardea garzetta Linn. ; B. O. TJ. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 108 ; 



Saunders, Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 373. 

 Garzetta garzetta Sharpe, Gat. Birds B. M. xxvi. 1898, p. 118. 



Garzetta, the Italian name ; also apelt Sgarzetta, Diminutive of Qaraa or 

 •2a = the Heron in modern Italian. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Eare Visitor. One 

 which was killed at Countess Weir, Devonshire, June 1870, 

 is fully authenticated. Others o£ uncertain origin are 

 recorded from Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, and Sussex. 



General Distribution. — The Little Egret breeds from 

 southern Europe across southern and central Asia to China, 

 Japan, and the Philippines ; also throughout Africa, where 

 many European birds winter. It has occurred in the 

 Azores and Canary Islands. It is an occasional straggler to 

 western and central Europe and is represented in Java and 

 throughout the East Indian Islands to Australia by a closely 

 allied form, E. g. nigripes. 



Genus ARDEOLA Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 559. 

 Type : A. ralloides (Scop.). 



Ardeola = diminutire of Ardea, a Heron. 



Ardeola ibis. Buff-backed Heron. 



Ardea ibis Linnwus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 144 : Egypt. 



Ardea bubulcus Audouin ; B. 0. TJ. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 109 ; 

 Saunders, Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 37.3. 



