. A history of British birds . orange-yellow; the lore and orbits the same; irides paleyellow. The whole plumage is snowy white, except thecrown of the head and the upper part of the neck before,which are buff: legs three inches and a half long, and oneinch and a half bare space above the joint; these parts arenearly black, with a tinge of green ; the toes and claws areof the same colour ; the middle claw pectinated. The skinis of a very dark colour, almost black, so that on the cheeksand sides of the neck, where the feathers are thin, it is partlyseen, or at least gives a dingy shade to the w
. A history of British birds . orange-yellow; the lore and orbits the same; irides paleyellow. The whole plumage is snowy white, except thecrown of the head and the upper part of the neck before,which are buff: legs three inches and a half long, and oneinch and a half bare space above the joint; these parts arenearly black, with a tinge of green ; the toes and claws areof the same colour ; the middle claw pectinated. The skinis of a very dark colour, almost black, so that on the cheeksand sides of the neck, where the feathers are thin, it is partlyseen, or at least gives a dingy shade to the white plumageof those parts. On the back of the head the feathers are atrifle elongated, but scarcely to be called a crest; on thelower part of the neck before, the feathers are more elon-gated, and, though not slender, hang detached over the upperpart of the breast : the tail when closed is in a slight degreeforked, and so short as to be entirely covered by the wingswhen they are folded. SQUACCO HERON. HERODIONES. 191ARDUIDJ?.. Ardea ralloides, Scopoli.*THE SQUACCO HEKON. Ardea comata. More than forty examples of this little Heron have nowheen taken in the British Islands. The earliest mention ofit as a visitor is in the Minutes to the Transactions of theLinnean Society, iii., where it is recorded, under date of 4thApril, 1797, that Mr. Lamhert presented a drawing of ahird of this species shot at Boyton, in Wiltshire, in might be expected from its distribution on the Con-tinent, its visits have almost invariably been in spring * Annus I. Historico-Naturalis, p. 88 (1769). 192 ardeidj:. and summer. It has been taken twice in Hampshire, andonce in the Isle of Wight (May); three times in Dorset(May and July); once near Bridgewater, in Somersetshire;and twice in Devon: in July 1840, and in June 1878. InCornwall, according to Eodd, about a dozen instances areknown—all in spring—and most of the examples were inimmature plumage. In Breconshire, one (May); in Cumber-land, o
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