On the Night Heron and the American Night Heron. 357 



with the droppings of old and young that permission to scrape 

 them clean daily might prove a fine speculation for the guano 

 collector. The birds, from the protection afforded them, were 

 remarkably tame, and we could stand beneath the trees and 

 watch them without their evincing the slightest fear. This was 

 in April. Some might be seen sitting on their nests with 

 their long legs bent under them, the weight of their bodies 

 resting for the most part on the tarsal joint ; others standing 

 on single leg close by with shortened neck, the beak and head 

 occasionally moving partially round as on a pivot; others 

 flapped to and fro ruffling up their head-gear and occasionally 

 sparring together. In their various movements the dark 

 green black of the head and back, with the thin snow-white 

 occipital streamers flowing and quivering over the latter, gave 

 a quaint though not ungainly look to the birds. From some 

 of the nests we heard a subdued chattering, like the cry of 

 young, and it was to feed these hungry mouths that the 

 parents were constantly leaving the trees to seek for food at 

 all times of the day, while others were returning with supplies. 

 As the sun set, however, they became more active. While I 

 sat watching them from a neighbouring roof-top in the 

 evening, numbers of them emerged from the leafy darkness, 

 and one by one settled on the stark bare outstanding arms of 

 the cotton tree. After resting for a little time like gaunt 

 spectres on the tree-top, off they went, one after the other, with 

 a ' Kvja' seldom more than two in the same direction. As 

 darkness set in, many returned, and the noise and hubbub 

 from the trees rose to a fearful pitch. Until night hid them 

 from my view, I could see the old birds going and coming, 

 and hear the clamour of the young. What kind of nocturnal 

 slumbers the priests enjoyed in the temple below I never 

 took the trouble to inquire, though I have little doubt that 

 from constant use the noise of these Croakers has become 

 quite essential to their good night's rest." 



In the same paper Mr Swinhoe mentions that he found in 

 this colony a bird in the second year's plumage, sitting upon 

 a nest containing eggs narrower and of a darker blue than 

 those of the mature bird, and that a bird in immature 

 plumage was brought to him with the testes so developed as 



