Allen, “ is the Buff-backed Heron in its winter plumage of pure white, which is to be met with in flocks
o f from four or five to thirty, distributed all over the country. These birds especially affect the society
o f cattle, and may be seen feeding among the legs o f the cows and buffaloes in the most fearless manner,
like Starlings in a flock of sheep, frequently perching on the backs o f the lazy animals in the same way.
The Arab name ‘ Abou Gerdân ’ (father o f flocks), the French ‘ le Heron Garde-boeuf,’ and the Latin
appellation ‘ Bubulcus,’ all have reference to this marked peculiarity.
“ Contrary to the usual custom of the Herons and Egrets, most of which are piscivorous, the ‘ Buff-
backed ’ does not feed upon fish, but upon the various kinds o f insects, particularly grasshoppers, which
are so abundant in the rank herbage produced by the peculiar system o f irrigation which obtains amongst
the Arabs. They are consequently seldom seen near the water’s edge. About dusk they retire to the
trees to roost ; and though I have occasionally seen them in the Date-palms, they generally choose the
Sycamore, or wild Fig-tree, for that purpose.
“ I t is frequently asserted that the Arabs consider this bird sacred, and that killing one is looked
upon as a serious offence ; but I believe this is not the case, at least, not in a religious sense. I have
sometimes been reproached for shooting a specimen, much in the same way that we should speak to any
one who killed a robin ; and I think that this more correctly represents the feeling on the f>oint, although
it is a hopeless task to try to make an Arab understand any thing o f an abstract nature.
“ During the winter the plumage of the Buff-backed Heron is o f a creamy-white colour, with a small
reddish-buff patch on the top o f the head; the legs and feet black. About the commencement of April
longer feathers of a pale buff begin to appear on the back, neck, and c re st; these continue to grow in
length and deepen in colour until the end of May, by which time the summer dress is complete. At the
same time the legs and feet change to a pale yellowish olive. The bill a t all times is o f an ochraceous
yellow; but the ¡rides vary in different specimens (probably according to age) from pale to bright yellow’;
the lores are greenish. The male is generally rather larger than the female, and has the long feathers
a little more developed.
“We did not meet with the nests o f the Buff-backed Heron ; and it seems probable that they are late
breeders, as, in those killed about the end of April, the ovaries did not appear enlarged.”— Ibis, 1863, p. 32.
“ Though local,” says Mr. Salvin, “ the Buff-backed Heron occurs abundantly where it is found in the
Eastern Atlas. I first met with it near Bizerta, and afterwards a t Zana, where it was numcrous. a large
flock frequenting the marsh. We did not obtain any of their eggs ; and, to all appearance, the birds had not
entered upon their domestic duties when we left their haunts.’l^fTfo's, 1859, p. 358.
Dr. Leith Adams tells us that “ in Egypt and Nubia the bird feeds chiefly on frogs, of which it devours
large numbers. The call resembles the ‘ b leat’ of sheep.”— Ibis, 1864, p. 31.
T he Rev. H. B. Tristram states that the bird is very common throughout the year about all the oases of
North Africa. Mr. C. F. Tyrrhwit Drake th at it is equally numerous in Tangier and Eastern Morocco.
“ The only known breeding-places o f the Buff-backed Heron in Northern Africa,” says the Rev. H. B.
Tristram, “ are Lake Halloula and a lake between Bona and Tunis. Here the Buff-backed, Squacco, and
Night Herons, and the Glossy Ibis all breed in communities—a t Lake Halloula this year probably for the
last time, as the French government has begun to drain this paradise o f Herons, employing vast numbers of
soldiers, and in the middle o f Ju n e last the waters were already reduced by seven feet. It is remarkable
that though there are trees and rising ground on the north o f the lake, yet none o f these birds frequent th at
side, the favourite haunts of the various Salicarice, but all remain on the south side, sheltered in a
pestilential morass by a jungle o f reeds, and all deposit their eggs on nests heaped on the ground. The
Buff-backed Heron builds a little further back from the water in general than the Squacco, but neither of
them elevates its nest more th an two feet from the swramp.
In some notes on the birds o f the Colony o f Natal, forwarded to Mr. J . H. Gurney by Mr. Thomas Ayres,
that gentleman states:— “ The flats near the mouth o f the river Umlaas are the only localities where I
have seen this species. They are gregarious in their habits, roosting by night amongst the branches o f the
trees which overhang the small lakes that are plentiful in that part o f the country. They appear to feed
entirely on ticks (/le a n ), which they pick from the cattle as they are feeding, walking alongside o f them,
and every now and then taking one off. They are wary birds, and not easy o f approach.” Mr. Ayres also
states that “ it is very abundant in the Transvaal.”—Ibis, 1863, p. 330, &c.
The sexes undergo the same changes, and are therefore alike a t all times.
The foremost figure in the Plate, w’hich is about the natural size, represents the bird in its full summer
garb ; the reduced figures represent two others in the same state, and one in winter plumage.