BUFF-BACKED HERON 157 
five or six. They look snow-white, and are then 
hard to tell from Spoonbill or Egret; but they 
ought not to be mistaken for the first-named 
bird, for, being Herons, they fly as all Herons do, 
with head tucked in, whilst the Spoonbill flies 
with extended neck. This is a real resident bird. 
Captain Shelley says it breeds in August in large 
colonies in the sont trees, and that, in addition to 
being useful to the poor cattle, it is of the greatest 
use to Egypt, as it wages war on the locusts that 
would otherwise devastate the green crops and all 
growing things. 
I regret, however, that every year, according to 
the best evidence, this bird is less and less seen. 
Twenty-five years ago it was to be met with, off 
and on, everywhere, and in the Delta it was 
absolutely one of the commonest of birds. The 
cause of its lessening numbers is not certain, but 
when it is recalled that it is a form of Egret, and 
that from Egrets come “aigrettes,” one solution 
is apparent. Against that view, however, in 
common justice, I must say that I have no scrap 
of evidence that these birds are at all largely 
persecuted in Egypt, and they are, as already said, 
a resident bird. Some undoubtedly migrate north ; 
it may be they never return, and so the annual 
