BRITISH BIRDS 



Order HERODIONES. 



Family ARDEID-^. 



THE SQUACCO HERON. 

 Ardea ralloides, Scopoli. 

 Plate 41, 



Over sixty examples of this species have been recorded in the British Islands, 

 the greater number of these having occurred in the southern and south-western 

 parts of England, including the Scilly Islands. It has only been noted thrice 

 in Scotland, and eight times in Ireland. During summer it visits the countries 

 bordering the Mediterranean, as well as southern Russia, eastwards to the Caspian 

 Sea, but is only occasionally seen in Central Europe, whilst it appears to be a 

 resident in Africa. 



This beautiful little Heron is usually found breeding in colonies, often in 

 company with Night-Herons and Egrets, the nest being rather slightly constructed 

 of twigs and placed on the boughs of trees or in bushes in marshy places or where 

 floods have inundated the ground. In North Africa, it is said to nest on the 

 ground among reed-jungles. The greenish-blue eggs vary in number from four 

 to six. A large proportion of the food of this species consists of aquatic insects, 

 but frogs, tiny fishes, and even small mammals are also eaten, A captive bird with 

 which I was well acquainted passed a good deal of its time during rainy weather 

 in stalking blue-bottle flies, which it approached in a crouching attitude with great 

 caution, and when within striking distance, with a sudden dart of its bill, seldom 

 failed to secure its victim. 



The late Colonel Irby says {The Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar, 

 2nd ed., pp. 204-205): "On the Spanish side the Squacco Heron is entirely 

 migratory, arriving during the month of April. They are common in the marisma 

 of the Guadalquivir ; but I never observed any near Gibraltar, nor did I ever see 

 them following cattle, like the preceding species (Buff-backed Heron). They nest 

 late in the season." 



III. A 



