THE BIRDS OF LIBERIA 649 
CICONITFORMES 
ARDEIDAE Herons 
Casmerodius albus melanorhynchos (Wagler). African Great White Egret 
Ardea melanorhynchos Wagler, Syst. Ay., additamenta, last p., 1827: Senegambia. 
Length about 39 inches; entire plumage white, with ornamental plumes on back. Bill and eye 
yellow, feet black, loreal region bright greenish blue. Africa. 
This egret seems to be not uncommon along the larger streams and lagoons 
near the coast. Biittikofer (1885, 1886, 1888) noted it at Fisherman Lake, Cape 
Mount, as well as on the lower Junk and Mesurado rivers. We did not meet 
with it in the interior. 
Melanophox ardesiaca (Wagler). Black Heron 
Ardea ardesiaca Wagler, Syst. Av., Ardea, no. 20, 1827: Senegambia. 
_ A small heron, length about 20 inches; plumage slaty black; bill and tarsus black, toes yellow; 
Iris yellow. Africa south of the Sahara. 
Biittikofer mentions seeing this heron singly or in pairs along creeks and rivu- 
lets in marshy places and Bannerman (1912) records that Lowe found it at Settra 
Kru on the coast. 
Demigretta gularis (Bosc). West African Reef Heron 
Ardea gularis Bose, Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris, vol. 1, p. 4, pl. 2, 1792. 
Length about 20 inches; slaty black or gray, with a white throat; ornamental plumes on back; 
bill horn to black, tarsus black, toes yellow. West African coastal region from Senegal to Gaboon. 
This heron is locally common as at Fisherman Lake, Cape Mount, where 
Bittikofer (1885) found it abundant in the mangroves or fishing in backwaters 
left by the retreating tide. Away from the mangrove swamps, however, it is 
less common, for the same author (1888) only once met with it on a trip along the 
Barguay River, and we did not identify it in the interior. Stampfli collected two 
on the Junk River, where again, it was probably a frequenter of the mangroves. 
Butorides striatus atricapillus (Afzelius). African Green-backed Heron 
Ardea atricapilla Afzelius, Kongl. Vet. Akad. Nya Handl., Stockholm, vol. 25, p. 264, 1804: 
Sierra Leone. 
Size and general appearance of a Green Heron, but crown and nape black, throat and neck gray 
with a whitish stripe; a white-bordered black stripe on side of head; back steely green; below 
eray to grayish white. Tropical Africa. 
In the mangrove swamps along the coastal area this is a plentiful species, 
breeding in little colonies of from eight to fifteen pairs (Bittikofer, 1885, p. 239) 
but along the streams of the interior it is less often found. Indeed, the only ones 
we saw were near the mouth of the Mesurado, among the larger mangroves. 
Biuttikofer notes its habit of climbing up and down the mangrove roots and 
branches, and its fondness for sitting in shadowy places on old floating logs. 
The food, he says, consists in part of crabs and small mollusks, but especially of 
