64 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE NIGHT HERON. 



(Nycticorax nycticorax.) :|: 

 Plate 17, Fig. 4. 



The Night Heron has been obtained in our Islands at least fifty 

 times. Most of these occurrences were in the southern and 

 eastern counties ; but it has been found in most parts of England, 

 three or four times in Scotland, and as many times in Ireland. 

 The species has appeared chiefly in spring, but there does not 

 seem to be any evidence that this bird has ever bred in our islands. 



The Night Heron, subject to some slight variation in size, 

 is found both in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. It is a 

 regular summer visitor to the Spanish Peninsula, the South of 

 France, North Italy, the valley of the Danube, Transylvania, 

 South Russia, and the Caucasus. It breeds in all suitable 

 localities throughout Africa down to the Cape Colony, in Pales- 

 tine, Asia Minor, Persia, West Turkestan, throughout India and 

 Ceylon, the Burmese Peninsula, China, and South Japan, and 

 has been found in many of the islands of the Malay Archipelago. 

 On the continent of America, it is found throughout the United 

 States, extending northwards as far as New Brunswick, and 

 southwards into Mexico, Central America, and Ecuador. 



The nest of the Night Heron is built of sticks like that of the 

 Squacco, and forms a cradle-like structure in a tree. Eggs, from 

 three to five in number, bluish-green in colour. They vary in 

 length from 2 "18 to 1'8 inch, and in breadth from 1*5 to 1'3 inch. 

 Some specimens are slightly paler than others. It is impossible 

 to distinguish small eggs of this species from large examples of 

 those of the Little Egret ; but on an average the eggs of the 

 Night Heron are larger. The eggs of the Buff-backed Heron, 

 although similar in size, are distinguished by their much paler 

 colour. 



THE COMMON BITTERN. 

 (Botaurus stellaris.) 



Plate 17, Fig. 10. 

 The Common Bittern must now be regarded as an accidental 

 straggler on migration. It was probably at one time a common 

 resident in this country. The species breeds in suitable locali- 



* Nycticorax griscus (Linn.) — Saunders, Manual, p. 367. 



