FROM THE LEAST. 527 
101. ArpEa GarzEeTta. -Little Egret. 
This heron was tolerably common at the lakes of Birket- 
el-Kartin and Menzaleh, but was never seen elsewhere. 
102. ArpEA BuBULCUS. Buff-backed Heron. 
From Alexandria far into Upper Egypt one of the com- 
monest birds in all fields and gardens, even near the outer 
houses of Cairo, and by the banks of the Nile and canals. 
Large flocks follow the fellaheen as they plough, and keep 
within a few paces of them, while all grazing herds are sur- 
rounded by these birds, which have almost become domesticated. 
103. ARDEA comaTa. Squacco Heron. 
Only once seen among large flocks of Buff-backed Herons 
on a wet plot of the Shibra gardens near Cairo. 
104. AnpEA NycTIcoRAX. Night-Heron. 
First observed in a grove of palms at Keneh, in Upper 
Egypt, where these herons pass the night. At Cairo I found 
a very large colony of them nesting on a clump of pines 
which ornament an artificial mound in the Shiabra gardens. 
Along the Jordan valley we saw several of these birds among 
the thickets of the watercourses, and in the middle of April 
we found them among the pine woods and bushes of the 
island of Lacroma in Dalmatia. 
105. Ruynoama CaPENsIS. Painted Snipe. 
Great numbers of these beautiful and incredibly tame birds 
were seen on a narrow little bit of the great marsh at Is- 
mailia. They rise within a few paces, and fly only a short 
distance, their flight being truly rail-like, but rather lighter 
than that of our Water-Rail, and instead of running off and 
cleverly concealing themselves, they wait for the sportsman 
to come up again. 
