of Hongkong, Macao, and Canton. 53 



The gizzard was of moderate size, and shaped like a bottle, con- 

 taining the remains of small Crustacea. The testicles were 

 oblongo-ovate, and measured, one 1 inch, the other \ inch in long 

 diameter. Curled in the intestines was a worm-like Ascaris, l\ in. 

 long; and from off the skin under the feathers I picked a tick 

 (Ixodes), about -^ in. in diameter, with very thin red-brown feet 

 and white, berry-like body. 



113. Ardetta cinnamomea (Gmel.). CsLntonese," Fawhaw." 

 Common. 



114. Ardetta sinensis (Gmel.). Cantonese, " Wong gaw- 

 haw." 



Common. 



115. Nycticorax GRisEus (Linn.). Cantonese, "ilfoo/i-sAo'o 

 haw." 



This is the sacred bird of the great Honam Temple, Canton. 

 The court-yard in front of this temple contains some venerable 

 banyans, as well as a few towering cotton-trees [Bombax mala- 

 baricum). On the higher branches of the former the small flat 

 wicker-nests of the Night-Heron may be seen in all directions, 

 some only a foot or so from others ; and the croaking and flap- 

 ping and fighting that goes on overhead bears some distant re- 

 semblance to the crowded deck of an emigrant steamer on first 

 encountering a turbid sea. The granite slabs that form the pave- 

 ment beneath these trees are so bedaubed with the droppings of 

 old and young, that permission to scrape them clean daily might 

 prove a fine speculation for the guano-collector. The birds, from 

 the protection afforded them, were remarkably tame, and we 

 could stand beneath the trees and watch them without their 

 evincing the slightest fear. This was in April. Some might be 

 seen sitting on their nests, with their long legs bent under them, 

 the weight of their bodies resting for the most part on the tarsal 

 joint ; others standing on single leg close by, with shortened 

 neck, the beak and head occasionally moving partially round as 

 on a pivot ; others flapped to and fro, ruffling up their head-gear, 

 and occasionally sparring together. In their various movements, 

 the dark-green-black of the head and back, with the thin snow- 

 white occipital streamers flowing and quivering over the latter. 



