NYCTICORAX GRISEUS. 187 
vai'ies in leugili and consists of from eight to ten pointed 
white feathers bordered at the sides with black. 
The total length is about 19 inches. 
259. Ardetta minuta (Linn.). The Little Bittern. 
" This species is, near Tangier, the most scarce of the 
Ardeidce, being not often met with, and then alwaj^s either 
alone or in company with Ardeola comata. They arrive and 
pass on north in April, and return during August to winter 
further south. ^^ — Favier. 
The Little Bittern is, in Andalucia, entirely migratory, 
arriving late in April. Considerable numbers nest among 
rushes and sedges. They are late-breeders, nesting early in 
June, and laying as many as six white eggs. I have no exact 
date of the autumnal migration ; but they are all gone by 
October. 
260. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.). The Night-Heron. 
Favier says : — " This species is common near Tangier when 
on migration, passing in small lots, which frequent wooded 
spots close to lakes and rivers.'^ I saw the Night-Heron 
near Larache in April and near Tetuan at the end of 
March. 
In Andalucia they are entirely migratory, chiefly arriving 
in April ; but I have no date of their autumnal departure, 
and never observed any very near to Gibraltar. About the 
district of Seville they are common, nesting in companies on 
trees on the Rocina near Bocio and on the banks of rivers — 
like the other smaller Herons, breeding rather late. 
The Night-Heron, as its name implies, is a nocturnal- 
feeding bird, frequenting trees by day, and if disturbed usually 
flying from one tree to another ; but I have scarcely ever seen 
them on the move by day, unless frightened up. 
The immature birds, in their brownish spotted plumage, 
are, but for their arboreal habits, at a little distance 
very liable to be mistaken for the Bittern [Botaurus 
stellar is) . 
