I 
4 ^o The Hijlory of ANIMALS, 
Ardea capite cornuto . 
The Ardea^ with a horn on the head. SCfie Znljinm, 
This is another of the Brafilian birds, fo very different from all the European, that, 
if one had not feen the fkin of it preserved and fent over in a very good condition to 
us, it would be very difficult for us to be brought to believe there could be fuch a 
creature. 
It’s body is of the bignefs of that of the fwan, and it’s neck and legs long ; but the 
legs bear no proportion to the neck in length, as in other fpecies: the head is large 
and rounded; the eyes are large, and very bright and piercing; the iris is yellow, and 
tne pupil black : the beak is long, large, and black ; it is ftraight all the way to the 
extremity, but there it is bent a little downward: the noflrils are oblong, and very 
confpicuous. 
On the front of the head, juft above the bafe of the beak, there ftands a bony pro¬ 
tuberance, of an oblong and conic form, turning forwards, and very much refembiing 
a horn : this is white, and very ffiarp-pointed at the end; it is about an inch and a 
quarter in length, and of the thicknefs of a fkewer: the head is of a mixt white and 
black colour; at a diftance, the combination of thefe forms a kind of iron-grey, but, 
when feen near, they are found to be diftindt colours, and the variegations not fmall; 
the bottom of the bony protuberance or horn is furrounded with a very elegant feries 
of ffiort and flender feathers ; they ftand eredt, and are, like the reft of the head, va¬ 
riegated with black and white: the lides of the neck, toward the top, are black; 
part of the throat alfo is black, but the lower part of the neck, and the" whole breaft 
and belly, are variegated with white, black, and grey feathers : the back is blackiffi; 
the fides alfo and the upper part of the wings are black, and the belly, toward it’s 
lower part, is paler than elfewhere, and the covering feathers of the thighs are alfo 
whitiffi. 
The wings are very long and large, and their long feathers are of a deep and glofty 
black, with a tinge of changeable green ; the covering feathers are of a deep and per¬ 
fect black; the tail alfo is black, but it is moderately long, and fhews itfelf to fome 
extent beyond the tips of the wings, when they are clofed. 
The legs are robuft and long, but not proportionably to the length of the neck, 
and they are of a deep and dufky brown colour: the toes are long and robuft, and the 
claws are large, black, and fharp. 
This is a native of the Brafils; it frequents the lakes and other freffi waters, and feeds 
on fiffi. The Brafilians call it Anhima, and Marcgrave has deferibedit under the 
fame name; and all the reft have followed him in this, as well as in all the particulars 
of the defeription. 
Ardea tota alha capite leevi. 
The white Ardea> with a fmooth head. 
\ 
This is a large and beautiful bird, when it ftands eredt; it is more than three feet 
in height, but it’s body is not very bulky, the whole bird feldom weighing more than 
two pounds and a half: the head is tolerably large, and fomewhat deprefted on the 
crown, but rounded at the fides; the eyes are large, and very bright and beautiful; 
the iris is of a pale yellow, and the pupil of a deep black; the beak is Jong and yel¬ 
low, and the noflrils are oblong. 
The head is naked on the front; the fpace between the eyes and at the bafe of the 
beak is covered with a greenifh fkin, and the eye-lids alfo are naked, papillofe, and 
greenifti: the whole bird is of a beautiful fnow-white; the wings are long and )a r g e » 
the 
