136 
BUIT-BACKED EGRET. 
We have not a British or European specimen 
before us, and we do not find descriptions agree 
exactly in the colour and dimensions of some of 
those parts (the bill and legs), on which, among 
the Egrets, the specific distinctions in many in- 
stances rest. The plumage of both sexes, and, so 
far as we know, of the young, is pure white, the 
crest and elongated dorsal feathers being emblems 
of the season of incubation. The adult birds mea- 
sure in length three feet four or five inches. The 
dimensions of the bill and legs are given by 
d part of the tibia, . — 
le toe and claw, . 4J — 
The colour of the bill is black, or deep wood- 
brown, yellow at the base and about the nostrils ;* 
legs almost black.f In the young birds, Mr. Selby 
states, the bill and legs are greenish-black. 
The Buff-Backed Egret, E. russata, Wagler. 
— Ardea GEquinoctialis, Penn. — Bed-billed Heron , 
Penn. — Lillie White Heron, Montague Ardea 
russata, Wagler. — Buff-Backed Heron, Selby, Yar- 
rell. — The occurrence of this Egret in Britain, 
rests still on the solitary specimen obtained by 
Colonel Montague, and removed with his collec- 
Selby, 
Bill about 
Tarsi . 
6 inches. 
8 — 
Naked part of the tibia . 4 4 — 
Bill from the eye . . . 4| — 
Tarsi 6 4 — 
* Selby- 
+ Yarrell, 
