NIGHT HERON. 



NIGHT RAVEN. SPOTTED EAVEN. 

 GARDENIAN HERON. LESSER ASH-COLOURED HERON. JAMAICA NIGHT HERON. 



PLATE CLX. FIG. II. 



Nycticorax Europceus, STEPHENS. 



Ardea Nycticorax, LINNJEUS. 



Ardea Gardeni, GMELIN. 



Ardea obscura, LATHAM. 



THESE birds form heronries, either, according to Audubon, near 

 plantations, or in the interior of retired and secluded swamps, as well 

 as on some of the sea islands covered with evergreen trees. These 

 are formed in low bushes, or in middle-sized or tall trees, as seems 

 most convenient or secure. In some places the nests are placed within 

 a few yards of the ground, many on the branches, others between the 

 diverging boughs of the trees; in others at the tops of the trees, at 

 an elevation of not much more than twenty feet; and in others again 

 in tall cypresses, at a height of a hundred feet, or thereabouts. The 

 nest is fabricated of sticks, and is large in size and flat in shape; it 

 is lined with reeds, rushes, grass, and leaves. 



The eggs are commonly four in number, sometimes five, and of a 

 pale greenish blue colour. 



