138 
SQUACCO HERON. 
parts are nearly black, with a tinge of green ; the 
toes and claws are of the same colour ; the middle 
claw pectinated.” The above agrees nearly with 
the description given by Wagler of the young state, 
the brown colour prevailing with the advance of 
iige. 
A detail of the habits and nidification of this 
Egret is still much wanted. 
The Squacco Heron, E. ralloides. — A. ral- 
loides, Scopoli. — Ardea comata , Pall., Penn. — Heron 
crabier , Tamm . — The Squacco Heron of British 
authors. — In form, this species begins to depart 
from the true Egrets. The legs are feathered 
nearly to the knees, as among the bitterns. It 
has occurred several times in the southern and 
eastern counties of England, but we do not learn 
of any instance of its capture either in Scotland or 
Ireland. One is recorded, so lately as July 1840, 
to have been killed near Kingsbridge, Devonshire. 
In Middle and Southern Europe it is more fre- 
quently obtained, also in Greece ; but Africa and 
some parts of Asia are its true localities ; further 
than that its habits are considered as similar to 
its congeners, we have little knowledge of them.* 
The extreme length of this Egret is from 
* Since writing the above, wc have a note from Mr. A. 
Grounds, Ludlow, stating that a specimen of the Squacco 
Heron was killed near that town, about six years since, and 
was stuffed by him. 
