294 BIRDS OF DAMABA LAND. 



tremity of the bill is black, as is also the upper portion 

 of the upper mandible, the remainder of the bill is 

 yellowish green ; the lore and skin round the eyes are 

 greenish ; the legs and toes a light lemon-colour ; in 

 immature birds the iris is a deep reddish orange. 

 Measurements of a male : — 



SCOPID^*. 



346. Scopus umbretta, Gmel. Tufted Umbrette. 



L'Otnhrette du Shiegal, Buifon'a Planches Enl. pi. 796, vol. viii. 



p. 266. 

 Scoptis umbretta, Layard's Cat. No. 593. 



^^ „ Chapman's Travels in S. Afr., App. p. 418. 



„ „ Finsch & Hartlaub's Vogel Ost-Afrika's, p. 727. 



This queer and sombre-looking bird is pretty generally 

 diffused over Damara and Great Namaqua Land during 

 the rainy season, but is nowhere numerous, and moves to 

 permanent waters as the rainpools dry up. It feeds 

 much on frogs and also upon fish. It is generally ob- 

 served singly or in pairs, and is of a fearless disposition, 

 allowing a person to approach within range without 

 difficulty. 



* [Mr. G. R. Gray, in his ' Hand-list of Birds/ vol. iii. p. 34, treats the 

 Umbrette as forming a subfamily of the Ardeidce ; but it appears to me to be 

 so very distinct a form, that I have here treated it as the type of a separate 

 group, of which, however, it is the only member. — Ed.] 



