HERODIONES. 



NIGH'l'-HERON. 



195 

 ARDE1D.E. 



Nycticokax griseus (Linnaeus*). 



THE NIGHT-HERON. 



Nyctlcorax Gardenl. 



Nycticorax, Stephensf. — Beak about tbe same length as the head, bulky, 

 strong, 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 naked. Legs of moderate 

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

 middle toe : its scutelloe hexagonal in front ; the 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 yrisea, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. El. 12, i. p. 239 (1766). 

 t Shaw's General Zoology, xi. p. 608 (1819). 



