434 NYCTICORAX GARDEN! 



Male. — The Night Heron, -which is pretty generally dis- 

 persed over Europe, occurs so seldom in Britain, that I have 

 not had an opportunity of examining a recent specimen, or of 

 seeing one alive. The following description is therefore 

 taken from a very beautiful individual preserved in the 

 Museum of the University of Edinburgh. It was shot in 

 1823, near Coldstream, by the Earl of Home. The general 

 form is that of the common Heron, but with the neck and 

 legs shorter. The head is large, ovate-oblong, compressed. 



The bill is of equal length with the head, robust, a 

 little higher than broad at the base, much compressed toward 

 the end, tapering to a point ; the upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line straight for two-thirds, then deflected, the ridge 

 broadly convex at the base, but presently narrowed, the nasal 

 groove strongly marked, the sides convex, the edges sharp, 

 with a notch close to the acute tip ; lower mandible with the 

 angle very narrow, the sides concave, toward the end some- 

 what convex, the edges sharp, the tip acuminate ; the gape- 

 line a little arched. Upper mandible considerably concave, 

 with three parallel slender ridges. 



The nostrils are straight and linear ; the eyes large, sur- 

 rounded by a bare space, which extends to the bill. The 

 tibia is covered to three-quarters of an inch from the joint ; 

 the tarsus rather short, with broad hexagonal scales before, 

 and smaller scales of the same form on the sides. The toes 

 are rather long, slender ; the first with twelve, the second 

 sixteen, the third thirty-four, the fourth thirty scutella ; the 

 fourth a little longer than the second, and connected with 

 the third by a pretty large basal web. The claws are of 

 moderate length, arched, slender, much compressed, acute ; 

 that of the middle toe pectinate. 



The plumage is full, very soft, and rather blended. The 

 feathers on the upper part of the head, occiput, and hind- 

 neck are elongated, pointed, and silky. Three feathers, 

 about seven inches long, linear, acuminate, with inflected 

 webs, arise from the occiput, forming a decurved erectile crest, 

 extending narrow nearly half-way down the neck. On the 

 neck the feathers are curved obliquely, and elongate towards 

 its hind and lower parts. The wings are large ; the third 



