RUFOUS-BACKED EGRET. 



Ardea russata, Wagl. 

 Le Heron roussatre. 



It is not, we believe, generally known that this little Egret has been more than once captured within the pre- 

 cincts of the British Isles : the first instance of its occurrence was recorded by Montagu, in the ninth volume 

 of the Linnean Transactions, and it was afterwards more fully described in his Ornithological Dictionary under 

 the name of Little White Heron ; and this identical specimen now forms a part of the English collection at 

 the British Museum. It was shot in the autumn of 1805 near Kingsbridge in Devonshire, and upon dissection 

 proved to be a female, in all probability a bird of the year, as it is destitute of the fine rufous-coloured tint 

 with which the adults are adorned. 



In Europe this species is almost entirely confined to the most southern and eastern parts, and even there it 

 is a rare bird ; at the same time there are few species of the genus which enjoy so extensive a range, being 

 dispersed over the greater part of Africa and Asia, and being particularly plentiful in the Himalaya and 

 Nepaul. 



Of its habits and manners we have no certain account ; but that small fish, frogs, and insects constitute its 

 principal subsistence there can be no doubt. The specimen killed in England was observed in the same field 

 several days among some cows and feeding upon insects. 



The adult has the bill, irides, all the head and neck, and the long plumes on the back rich reddish orange ; 

 the remainder of the plumage pure white ; the legs greenish olive ; and the nails black. 



We have figured an adult of the natural size. 



