i l l !
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RUFOUS -BACKED EGRET.
A rd e a russata, W agl.
L e Héron roussâtre.
1 H i B 5 i B tbat thiS 1Me 9 has boe" th™ <■« M l within the pre.
cincts o f the Bntish Isles = the first instance o f its occurrence was recorded by Montagu, in the ninth volume
o f the Linnean Transact,ons, and ,t was afterwards more fully described in his Ornithological Dictionary under
the name o f Little White Heron ; and this identical specimen now forms a part o f the English collection at
the British Museum. It was shot in the autumn o f 1805 near Kingsbridge in Devonshire, and upon dissection
proved to he a female, m all probability a bird o f the year, as it is destitute o f the fine rufousîcoloured tint
with which the adults are adorned.
In Europe this species is almost entirely confined to the most southern and eastern parts, and even there it
u a rare bud ; at the same time there are few species o f the genus which enjo, so extensive a range being
dispersed over the greater part o f Africa and Asia, and being particularly plentiful in the HimdaU and
Népaul. . 3
O f its habits and manners we have no certain account ; but that' small fish, frogs,, and insects constitute its
principal subsistence there can be no doubt. The specimen killed in England was observed in the same field
several days among some cows and feeding upon insects.
The adult has the bill, irides, all the head and neck, and the long plumes on the back rich reddish orange •
the remainder o f the plumage pure white ; the legs greenish olive ; and the nails black.
We have figured an adult o f the natural size.