Birds of Gamhia 
101 
so -will confine myself mainly to those T do kno^, thou'g'h for 
completeness I shall include all species whose range takes in the 
Gambia. 
Herodiaft' lurldms. BUFF-BACKED oi- CATTLE EGRET. 
Eange. South Europe to Eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, 
The Mascarenes. (H.L.) 
A small white Egi'et with bufi' ci-nwn, ii:i]ie and iiai'k, tlie 
feathers of which regions and also on the foreneck are ai th[e 
breeding season elongated and tapered in the male to form three 
trailo of flulTy ornamental i)lumes, one from the fore-neck, a third, 
the largest, from the middle of the back. These plumes are hpw- 
ever never of any great leng'th and luckily for the birds seem of 
no value a,s " osjireys," at least no one ever apfiears to collect 
them. The female has much smaller plumes, while the young 
have none. Bill and legs brownish yellow; iris yellow. Length 
20 inches. 
The Cattle-Egret is one of oui' commonest birds, and is 
certainly best known of all our Herons from its constant attend- 
ance on the innumerable herds of cattle which are Ibri pride of the 
natives of the Protecto:ate, among whom cows, besides being mere 
property, represent or are the outward and visible signs of wealth, 
power, ana importance. The herds are tied up during the night 
close to or in the towns and every morning after sunrise are loosed 
and make their way to the nearest m'arsh, where thiey graze 
throughout the day. These Egrets join the cattle, some 10 or 12 
to each herd, directly they begin to move and accompany them all 
day, walking unconcernedly in and out nm(mg their bellies and sides 
or on occasion settling on the backs to get at high,er places. At 
the same time too, they snatch uji all the gi'as.shoppeT-s, beetles', lizards, 
and other creeping things disturbed by the onward movement of the 
grazing animals, all these no doubt forming their staple food, the 
ticks coming in as savoury relishes. One often also notices them 
snapping at the hosts of flies buzzing round the cattle, and I used 
to hope that they might thus take toll of the Tsetse-flies and 
thus help to diminish these cursed pests, but although I have 
shot several in bad Tsetse places and while engaged too in snapping* 
at swarms of flies, many of which were Tsetses, I have never 
yet seer a Tsetse in any crop I have examined. The recognis- 
able remains have been those of grasshoppers, beetles, locusts, centi- 
pedes, white ants, ticks, lizards, occasionally common flies, and in 
one crop a fair sized mouse. From their constant association with 
cattle and their herds, these birds are most fearless of man and 
beast, and will hardly tiouble to get out of the way of the latter, 
or to do more than fly a few yards for one of the former. In the 
evening, when the cows come home, they follow thieir particular 
herd on its leisurely progress to its tying-plaoe and then in a body 
fly straight for the river, where they are joined by other parties'^ 
all of whom roost for the night in large flocks on tall trees over>- 
