Ornithological and Other Oddities 



appears that paddy-birds were the only inhabi- 

 tants of the island till the winter of 1892, when 

 a few of a very different species, the night-heron 

 {Nycticorax griseus) put in an appearance. This 

 curious thick-set heron is not rare in India — 

 indeed, it has a very wide distribution over the 

 world, occurring even as a straggler in England 

 — but it seems to be local. In all the years 

 during which I watched the Calcutta market, 

 although herons of other species were often 

 brought in, I only once found the night-heron, 

 and then the proprietor of the specimen asked me 

 what it was, not knowing its name even in his 

 own language. This makes the invasion of the 

 Calcutta Zoo island the more remarkable ; how- 

 ever, it continued, for in 1893 a large number 

 appeared about November, and spent three or 

 four days in hovering round the place before they 

 determined to settle. Although few, if any, bred 

 in the next spring, they returned in the winter of 

 1895 in greatly increased numbers, and crowded 

 out the unfortunate paddy-birds until they them- 

 selves thought fit to leave next spring ; but this 

 time they did not all go, a great many remaining 

 to breed. As I had come out to India in the 

 winter of 1894, I also was able to observe the 

 progress of events, which was now complicated 

 by the arrival of some cormorants. These 



belonged to the small jet-black species so com- 



140 



