26 ARDEIDAs 
DESCRIPTIYE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial—Head and back of 
neck, pale buff, striped with brownish-black lines; the head- 
plumes, long and pointed, are pure white edged with 
black; sides and front of neck, rich buff; back, yellowish- 
brown with a tinge of purple; dorsal-plumes, long and 
filamentous ; wing-coverts, light buff; rest of plumage, white. 
Adult female nuptial.—Similar in colour to the male, 
but with less developed plumes. 
Adult winter, male and female.—The long plumes are 
absent. 
Immature, male and female.—The general colour is not 
so pure as that of the adult plumage, and shows much 
ereyish-brown; the streaking on the neck is more pro- 
nounced, and there is a considerable amount of brown 
on the back and on the inner secondaries. 
Brak. Base, rich blue; point, blackish. 
Ferrer. Yellowish-pink; soles, yellow. 
Irives. Yellow. 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... ue cet SOP eine 
WING wate ER: at con ON ee 
BEAK sue aie ice ae aoe 
TARSO-METATARSUS DIRS) ss 
EGG... 15 Lacie 
NIGHT HERON. Nycticorax griseus (Linneus). 
Coloured Figuwres.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain, vol. iv, pl. 
96; Dresser, ‘ Birds of Europe,’ vol. vi, pl. 402; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. vii, pl. 11. 
The Night Heron, though far from common, may be 
regarded as an annual spring and autumn migrant to the 
British Isles. It has been more often recorded, in both 
Great Britain and Ireland, than the Squacco Heron. In 
England it appears to have visited the west and north less 
frequently than the other districts. It has occurred four 
times in the south of Scotland, several times in Argyllshire, 
and once in Aberdeenshire. Moreover, on October 12th, 
1896, a specimen was shot on Benbecula, after aheavy gale 
from the south. ‘The bird, an immature male, is heretofore 
