440 Mr. B. Alexander —An Ornithological 
water's edge. The gait is ambling, the back being constantly 
jerked up and down in walking. 
211. Herodias garzetta (Linn.). 
Well distributed. “Jan. 12. A large flock of Egrets, 
some 50 io number. They kept flying a few yards ahead of 
our boat, always skirting the bank, where now and again 
they rested, their bodies making a startling contrast with 
the green leaf of the bushes and the reddish brown of the 
steep bank." 
212. Ardea melanocephala Vig. & Child. 
On the lower reaches of the river below the Shire river. 
213. Ardea purpurea Linn. 
Common. An immature male at Chicowa, Sept. 15. 
214. Ardea goliath Riipp. 
By no means common. Roosts on trees in impenetrable 
marsh-land. We once disturbed a party at dusk. As they 
flapped away their gigantic size struck us immensely. We 
seldom saw these birds during the daytime, but towards 
evening solitary individuals would steal out on to the open 
sandbanks of the river. 
215. Butorides atricapilla (Afzel.). 
A pair obtained near Zumbo on Nov. 1. 
Adult $ . Total length (measured in the flesh) 2067 inches, 
wing 6*5. Iris yellow; upper mandible black, lower greenish 
yellow; tarsi and feet, upper surface dark green, under 
yellow, becoming brighter underneath feet. 
Adult ? . Total length (measured in the flesh) 19*67 
inches, wing 6*4. Coloration as in male. 
216. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.). 
Observed on the lower reaches of the Zambesi, near the 
Chindi river, where the country is very low and swampy, 
great stretches of reed-beds enclosing the river as far as the 
eye can reach. On several occasions we observed these birds 
travelling down the river on floating rafts of tangle and 
weed. They are sluggish birds, and seem to prefer this kind 
of travelling to that by flight. We constantly passed them 
