2i6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



specimens are still met with at irregular intervals 

 every year (I have notes of its occurrence in upwards 

 of sixty instances), and it may accordingly be con- 

 sidered an annual visitant. 



Half-a-dozen instances of its occurrence in Scot- 

 land are on record ; three in the south, one in 

 Aberdeenshire, and one in Argyllshire. In addition 

 to these, an immature male was shot on the east 

 coast of Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, on Oct. 12, 

 1896, after a heavy gale from the north-east (Peel, 

 Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist, 1897, p. 43). 



In Ireland, where the Night Heron is regarded 

 as a rare and irregular visitor, Mr. Ussher states that 

 more than twenty have been recorded since 1834, 

 the majority of them immature birds, procured in 

 autumn. So many adults, however, have been met 

 with in April, May, and even June (the latest was 

 reported at Courtown, Co. Meath, on May 10, 1900), 

 that we cannot doubt the Night Heron would breed 

 annually in this country if left undisturbed in suit- 

 able quarters, e.g. by the overgrown banks of sluggish 

 streams, and in marshes and swamps, where reedy 

 pools with alders and bog- myrtle afford sufficient 

 concealment for the birds and their nests. 



The birds of the year are quite unlike the adults 

 in plumage. The latter are grey, with greenish- 

 black head and back, and long white crest feathers ; 

 the former are dull brown, streaked and spotted 

 with white on the neck and back, and have no 

 crest. According to observations made by the late 

 Robert Swinhoe, the immature plumage undergoes 



