BUPHUS COMATUS.
Squacco Heron.
Ardea comata, Pall. Reise, tom. ii. p. 715.
ralloides, Scop. Ann. Hist. Nat., tom. i. no. 121.
squaiotta, castanea, et erythropus, Gmel. ed it Linn. Syst. Nat., i<m. ■ pp. 633 634
——- audax, La Peyr. Neue Schwed. Abh., tom. iii. p. 306.
—- Marsigti, Lepechin, Nov. Comm. Petrop., töm. xiv. p. 502, tab. 14. fig 1,
— pumila, Lepechin, ibid., p. 502.
Ardeola ralloides, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 559.
Bttphus comatus, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 356.
— rastaneiu ei raüoulrs, Brehra, Vöj^ßteutschl. p. 589.
Egrrtt* amata, Swains. Ciass. of Birds, vol. i l p. 354.
Botaurus comatus, Maegill. Man. of Nat. Hist., Orn., vol. ii. p. 125.
Cancrophagus ralloides (Boie), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst., p. 42.
On the banks of Old Father Thames, within twenty-five miles o f London, the pleasure-sceker m«iv graidv
his taste by land o r by water, and the lover of nature may revel in the varied character of the scenery.
Such woods, waters, and meads as those o f Taplow, Cliveden, and Hedsor, my own favourite resorts fur
observation, form such an elysium for the naturalist as rarely occurs. I was once standing at the door of
the celebrated inn o f this charming«locality, when a person in the garb of a gentleman hurried out. and
eagerly inquired for the next train to London, adding that one hour at Temple Bar was worth twelve
months’ life in the country. F o r myself I would not care if I never saw the old Temple Gate again, and
would at any time leave the hurried Babel of London to hear the song o f the Thrush or witness the skipping
o f the Bleak before the huge Trout o f our queen of rivers; hut he and I, with hundreds o f others each
having his especial liking, are essential to make tin a worM Avr* birds this diversity is shown in
another manner; for their nature, aud not their tastes. jmva.pt* no is kind to affect the especial Walitv for
which it was designed—some the mountain-tops, others ibc Pore*t, the marsh, and the sea-shorc Tbev are
equally-diversified in their colours and adornments,—those of the tropics being dressed in modest as well as.
brilliant hues, those o f the snow-clad mountain in spotles* a •• r4l a« flittering tints those of the stagnant
waters being adorned with hues as beautiful as any o f the ©then», w fe e hose of die seas are not wan tin«- in
variety o f colouring.
It is in the swamp, in the stagnant marsh, in the still waters, where the newt wriggles in the warm
shallows, and the frog croaks in the rush-beds, where the bockbean flourishes, the flowering rush raises its
stately head, and the forget-me-not carpets the margin, that the beautiful bird figured in the accompanying
Plate loves to dwell; for there it finds both security and an abundant supply o f Rod. It is- in such
situations, in Southern Europe, that it is by no means uncommon; and it has several times been killed in
the British islands; to us, however, it is only a casual visitor, and it must therefore be regarded as one of
the rarities o f our avifauna.
Although most o f the English counties, from Cornwall to the border, have from time to time been favoured
with its presence, there is none in which it has been more frequently seen than in those o f Norfolk and Suffolk.
Speaking of Cornish localities iu which it has occurred, Mr. Rodd enumerates St. Hilary, St. Levan, Sennen,
Trereife, Madron, and Seiiiv, and adds that the examples obtained were generally in immature plumage, but
some o f them had the occipital and dorsal pinnies partly developed. Mr. R. C. Musgrave informs me that
a specimen in his father’s, Sir George Mu-sgrave's, possession was shot by one o f his gamekeepers in June
1845 while perched on a tree a t Lazonby, in Cumberland.
Mr. Stevenson, to whom I am indebted for so many notes on the birds o f Norfolk, writes me word that
the first recorded instance o f its occurrence in that county is in Messrs. P aget’s ‘ Sketch o f the Natural
History o f Yarmouth,’ in which it is stated that “ one was caught in a bow-net hanging out to drv, by
Ormesby Broad in Ju ly 1820.” In May 1831 another was shot a t Oulton, near Lowestoft, io SuflMk,
and is now in the collection o f Mr. J . H. Gurney, at Catton. A third, killed at Orroesby or FiH»?,
two adjoining Broads, on the 12th of June 1834, is described in Dr. Hooker’s MS. as a "
beautiful specimen,” and was purchased by Captain Chawner o f Alton, Hants, who was at that Urm collecting
a t Yarmouth. This bird is likewise referred to in some MS. notes o f the late Mr. Lombe. whose
splendid collection of British B irds is still in the possession o f his daughter, M rs. E . P . Clarke o f Wvmoudhttm.
Iu these notes, which were made in Mr. Lomhe’s copy of “ Bewick,” I also find a record of a fourth example,