488 ARDEID.E. 



inter-scapulars, and back, nearly black, glossed with green ; 

 wings, wing-coverts, all the quill-feathers, secondaries, ter- 

 tials, and tail-feathers, ash grey ; throat and neck almost 

 white, passing into dull greyish white on the sides ; breast, 

 belly, thighs, flanks, and under tail-coverts, nearly pure white ; 

 legs and toes green ; the claws black. 



Adult males and females differ but little in colour. The 

 whole length, from the point of the beak to the end of the 

 tail, about twenty-three inches : from the carpal joint to the 

 end of the wing twelve inches ; the first and fourth quill- 

 feathers equal in length, and a little shorter than the third 

 feather ; the second feather the longest in the wing. 



The young Night Heron has the upper mandible of the 

 beak of a dark brown, the edge on each side lighter in colour, 

 and, like the under mandible and the naked skin around the 

 eye, of a pale greenish brown ; the irides brown ; no elon- 

 gated occipital plumes ; the top of the head, back of the 

 neck, inter-scapulars, shoulders, wing, and wing-coverts, clove 

 brown, the centre of each feather being pale wood-brown, 

 extending to the tip, but bounded on the sides with darker 

 brown ; all the primaries, secondaries, and tertials, clove 

 brown, tipped with pale wood-brown ; rump, and upper tail- 

 coverts, a mixture of ash grey, pale brown, and clove brown ; 

 tail-feathers greyish brown ; chin, throat, neck in front, breast, 

 and under surface of the body, dull white, with elongated 

 patches of greyish brown ; legs and toes brown, tinged with 

 green, claws dark brown. 



The plumage of the Night Heron when in change between 

 these two states has been already referred to as exhibiting the 

 brown spotted wing of the young bird with the black head 

 and ash-coloured back of the adult. 



