250 HERON TRIBE 



from their parents in the winter-costume by the darker brown of the 

 back, the black shafts to the primary quills of the wings, and the 

 broad black shaft-streaks to the feathers of the neck. 



It is in this comparatively dull immature or winter livery that 

 most of the examples of the squacco heron recorded as British visitors 

 have been taken ; although there is reason to believe that had they 

 been suffered to live some would have remained till after the assumption 

 of the breeding-costume. Africa is the real home of the squacco. 

 which wanders, however, in summer to the south of Russia and the 

 Caspian basin, while a few individuals reach central Europe, and still 

 fewer the British Islands. The fact that in Africa south of the equator 

 winter corresponds to our summer will probably explain the occurrence 

 of birds in winter-plumage reaching Europe during the summer months. 

 During the nineteenth century about forty - one occurrences of the 

 squacco in the British Isles were chronicled ; of these occurrences seven 

 are from Ireland, while there is only one from Scotland, and one from 

 Orkney. Several examples have been recorded during the present 

 century, including four from Sussex, one from Cornwall (1907), and one 

 from Yorkshire (1902). 



Nieht-Heron Although there appears to be no actual record that 

 (Nveticopax ^^^^ night- heron (sometimes designated Xydicorax 

 sriseus) nycticorax) has ever bred within the limits of the 



United Kingdom, some ornithologists are of opinion 

 that it probably did so regularly in former times. Be this as it may, 

 individuals are recorded annually from some part of the country, so that 

 there can be no hesitation in admitting the species to a definite place 

 in the British list. From all the members of the heron tribe hitherto 

 noticed the night-herons (for there are several representatives of the 

 genus, which ranges over the whole of the warmer regions of the 

 world), together with their near relatives the green -herons, differ by 

 having the wings, body, and tail coloured instead of white ; the night- 

 herons being distinguished from the green-herons by having the length 

 of the beak about equal to that of the shank of the leg, and also by 

 the great relative depth of the base of the beak. Other characteristics 

 are to be found in the slender crest, comprising only a few feathers, 

 with which the head is adorned, the shortness and thickness of the 

 neck, the short tail (with the twelve feathers distinctive of the herons 

 generally), and the " squat " build of the entire bird. 



The range of this species is very extensive, comprising (in localities 

 suited to its habits) the greater portion of the warmer regions of the 



