HERODIONES. 



NIGHT-HERON. 



195 

 A R DEI DM. 



Nycticokax griseus (Linnaeus*). 



THE NIGHT-HERON. 



Nycticorax Gardenl. 



NrcTicoRAX, /SVfp/tensf.— Beak about the same length as the head, bulky, 

 stron?, broad, and dilated at the base ; upper mandible slightly bending and 

 curved at the point ; under mandible straight. Nostrils, longitudinal, lateral, 

 but little in advance of the base of the beak, naked, place 1 in a groove, and 

 partly covered by a naked membrane ; lore and orbits nakeil. Legs of moderate 

 length, naked for a short distance above the tarsal joint ; tarsus longer than the 

 middle toe : its scuteihe hexagonal in front ; Ihe outer and middle toe united 

 by a membrane ; claws short ; that of the middle toe pectinated. Tail of twelve 

 broad and moderately hard feathers 



* Ardea (jrisea, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. El. 12, 

 + Shaw's General Zoology, xi. p. (iOS (181 9). 



•2:5!> (\1M). 



