BUBULCB® K S U S S A T t lS .
BUBULCUS RUSS AT life.
Buff-backed Heron.
Ardea russata, Wagl. Syst. At., Arden, sp. 12.
aquinoclialis, Mont. Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. ix. p. 197.
bubulcus, Savig. Descr. de l’Egypte, Zool., tom. i. p. 298, tab. 8. bv
Veranyi, Roux, Orn. Prov., tom. ii. p. 316.
Buphus russatus, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 356.
Erodius russatus, Macgill. Man. of Orn., vol. ii. p. 135.
Egretta russata, Macgill. Hist, of Brit. Binls, vol. iv, p. 474.
Bubulcus ibis, Bonap. Tab. Syn. de.s H ir., Compt. Rend, de l’Acad. Sci., toi
Heredias bubtdmt, Afiwa. >t> l\m , 1863, p. 32.
Devonshire is the only English county that can claim this bird as forming part of its avifauna * and that
claim rests upon the occurrence of the single specimen shot by Mr. F . Cornish, at South Alii st" ton, in the
parish o f Chivelstone, and presented by Mr. Nicholas Luscombe, of Kingsbridge, to the celebrated Colond
Montagu, by whom the circumstance was communicated to the Linnean Society on the 5th of May, !fit)/,
and recorded in the ninth volume o f their ‘Transactions,’ as above quoted.
“ This elegant little species o f H eron,” says Col. Montagu, “ which was shot in the southern promontory of
Devon, very near the coast between the Start and the Prawl, in the latter end o f October 1805, had been for
several days in the same field, attending some cows and picking up the insects which were found in it*
stomach. I t was by no means shy, and was fired a t a second time before it was secured.’’ This specimen
is still preserved in the British Museum.
Beyond the above meagre notice, nothing had been placed on record respecting this beautiful species in
any ornithological work; but, thanks to the labours of the modern observers who hare communicated their
researches to ‘The Ibis,’ I am able to furnish a wm»tor of interesting details as to its habit*, manners, $tc.
T he native country of the Buff-backed Heron is Africa, »here it is more or less abnnd.tR! imoi mirth to
south, but is especially numerous io the basin o f the Nile ; it is also met with in certain parts of P e rm md
Asia Minor, and less frequently in Greece, Turkev, Dalmatia, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Io
oriental countries, its place is occupied by an allied species, the Jiuluirns t'orammtAusq.jrtth which u ftiw fcifin
confounded, but which, says D r. Jerdon, differs from the present bird by its longer tarsi, the more vivid hoe
a»d greater extent o f the golden yellow feathering, and the less denuded orbits *, and Mr, Swinhoe, who
regards them as distinct, remarks :— “ The eastern bird can, even in its white plumage, be distinguished to
the greater hmgfh o f its bill, which is generally half an inch longer, and by its more naked tibia*. ?p tfe*
summer plnmage the distinctness is more marked. The African lias the crown o f its head and its utadw
neck only btiff-oolour, tinged with a vinaceous h u e ; in the other the entire head, neck, and breast
clothed with orange-coloured feathers, those of the breast only having a slight vinaceoaa tinge ; the centre
o f the back is also orange, hut the long loose dorsal plumes are light vinaceous pink. The specific term
russata has been applied by Tetnmiuck to the African b ird ; eoromanda is an old name for the eastern one.
In Egypt, the Buff-backed Heron frequents the banks of the Nile, which, however, it often leaves to follow
the cattle and the ploughman, just a* the ?W U and Gulls are wont to do m England. The Arabs, wh*>
appear to know less of the Ibis than we do in Euroj«*, affect to consider the ¿.«--v.---- he jjfet speci»^.
and frequently direct the attention of travellers to it as the sacred bird.
I now proceed to give the observations o f some o f the w> • T V fbis .iHatdcd to above, and, in
justice to them, in their own words.
The Buff-backed Heron, says Mr, Taylor, ' excessively .¿£1 vhiatygh Egypt, and very tame
and familiar. I t especially affects the socle*, r »f . I b.u t v ■ * ■ < • ■. ■ on the backs of buffaloes
and cows. . From this propensitv to « o h catric, it t* ««fed C by the English. !
never saw an example with the elongated ftHaeum on the back, wbn-b arc to be characteristic
of the species. All that I met with had the pfcimpqge pure whm-. except the crown of tlie head, which
was buff. I conclude from this that the ehi&go**-*! dw**al ptusaes ¿re peculiar to »to toeedmg-seiu*»»», as I
cannot believe that the very numerous specs!»»!».!* which came nwtor my obw.r'iatw»» «ere ail «a m*mature
plumage. This bird does duty on the Nile *& Vbt ih*. tomg generally gKM*t#d '■■*« «*> tjw d ie rs by dragoman
«, &c., as the r<jal Ibis religiosa.’’—-Mbr. IBS#, p, Ml..
“ Ifyrtmps the most conspicuous bird that ito rye 4$ dir - ¡ov 1« fegypi,'' say* Mr. Stafford