150 BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
to a jar of water in which it immersed its food before 
swallowing it. This bird used to be in constant attend- 
ance upon the gardeners if they were digging, in order 
to pounce upon any worms or insects which were turned 
up by the spade." 
PURPLE HERON. 
ARDEA PURPUREA, Linnzeus. 
This rare wanderer from the continent of Europe 
seldom reaches the west coast of England, and has only 
once been observed in Cheshire. On April 7th, 1887, 
an adult Purple Heron was shot in the fields between 
Alderley Edge and Wilmslow. It was erroneously 
attributed to Lancashire in the Zoologist, and the 
mistake was repeated in the second edition of the 
Birds of Lancashire’? The bird is now in the collec- 
tion of Colonel Dixon at Astle Hall. 
NIGHT HERON. 
NYCTICORAX GRISEUS (Linnzeus). 
To the southern and eastern counties of England 
the Night Heron is a not infrequent visitor, but in the 
west it is much rarer, and has only once been obtained 
in Cheshire. In the summer of 1865, an adult was 
shot on the Mersey near Northenden by a man named 
George Smith. His son, who still has the bird, in- 
formed us that he remembered hearing it on several 
evenings ‘at haymaking time, making a noise like a 
person vomiting.’ In the case containing this Heron 
1 Proc. Chester Soc. Nat. Science and Lit., No. iv. pp. 226-243. 
2 'T. Pickin, Zoologist, ser. 111. vol. xi. p. 432. 1887. 3<P45: 
