Squacco

[A]n elegant ſpecies of Heron, common to Italy, to Switzerland, and perhaps other parts of Europe. It was firſt deſcribed by Aldrovand [Ulisse Aldrovandi], under the title of Sguacco, a Heron ſo called in the valley of Malalbergo: Mr. [Francis] Willughby calls it the Heron ſtyled Sguacco, we name it from its colours, the cream-coloured Heron.

SQUACCO H[ERON]. [...] This is an elegant ſpecies, and inhabits the bays of the Caſpian Sea, and the ſlow ſtreams of the ſouthern Deſert. It is alſo met with in Italy, about Bologna, where it is called Sguacco, and is ſaid to be a bold and courageous bird.

["]It is also met with in Italy, about Bologna, where it is called Squacco, and is said to be a bold and courageous bird." [Quoting John Latham: see the 1785 quotation.] In the Globe London newspaper, of the 4th December, 1820, it is stated that, "there has been taken within a few miles of Yarmouth, a male bird, of that very rare species, Ardea comata, of [Peter Simon] Pallas, or the Squacco Heron, of Latham."

The pretty little Squaccoes had then shifted their quarters to the reedy edges of the lagoons; and several nests appeared near ready for eggs in the "juncales," or reed-beds; but none of the genus appear to lay before June.

The Night-Herons had their nests a few feet above the water, as had also the Squaccos and Little Egrets, though those of the latter were sometimes placed just above the surface.

These trees were occupied, some laden, with hundreds of stick-built nests, the abodes of the southern herons some of which we have already mentioned—Egrets, Squaccos, Buff-backs, Night-Herons, and the like: but nearly all this group nest very late (in June), and the colony was at this season tenantless.

Although approaching the Little Bitterns in size and general appearance, the Squacco really belongs to the group of true Herons. They have twelve tail feathers, and the bill shows distinct serrations near the end of the upper mandibles.

[T]his species forms part of a species-group with the Squacco Heron (31), and the two frequent broadly similar habitats except for the Madagascar's apparent preference for more open situations in its non-breeding range [...]. Their maps, however, are distinctly different, with the Squacco more widespread in the W and N, while the distribution of the present species reflects its penetration into Kenya as a migrant from the S.