300 Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 
Ardeola comata (Pall.). Squacco Heron. 
Male, shot 3rd January. Stomacli contained grass¬ 
hoppers. 
301. Butorides ATRicAPiLLA (Afzel). Black-capped Dwarf 
Heron. 
Female, shot in August. Irides yellow, as is also the hare 
skin round the eye; the upper mandible of the bill black, the 
lower yellow and brown. 
This species frequents trees on the banks of the River 
Marico. 
Ardetta podiceps. Bon. Rufous-necked Little Bittern. 
Male, immature, shot at Potchefstroom 3rd January. 
Total length 13| inches, bill from gape 2f [from culmen 
1-65.—J. H.G.], tarsus wing 5, tail 1|. Irides pale 
greenish yellow; bill dusky along the ridge and commissure, 
elsewhere pale yellowish; tarsi and feet pale greenish yellow. 
Stomach contained grasshoppers. 
[Mr. Ayres sends a second specimen, shot at Potchefstroom 
on the 29th of April by Mr. W. Lucas, who has marked it 
as a female; but it appears by its plumage to be a male just 
commencing the assumption of the adult dress. It measures 
as follows:—Bill from gape 2*2 inches, from culmen 1*65, 
tarsus 1*7, wing 5*1.—J. H. G.] 
302. Ardetta minuta (Linn.). European Little Bittern. 
Sex uncertain, shot at Potchefstroom, 18th February, 
1872. 
[This specimen was sent to me by Mr. Ayres soon after it 
was shot, and I then considered it to be an example of 
A. podiceps'y but having recently carefully reexamined it, 
and compared it with other specimens, I believe it to be an 
adult female of the true A. minuta ; and Mr. Sharpe, to 
whom I have submitted it, agrees with me in this opinion. 
Its principal measurements are :—Bill from gape 2*5 inches, 
from culmen 1*8, tarsus 1*7, wing 5*7. 
The British Museum contains two South-African Little 
Bitterns, in similar plumage to this specimen, both of which 
appear from their dimensions to be referable to A. minuta 
