Ard. stellaris, Enl. 789; Frisch, 205; Naura. Ed. I, 27, f. 36. 

 (The European Bittern.) A golden fawn-colour, spotted and dotted 

 with black ; bill and feet greenish ; is found among the reeds, whence 

 it sends forth that terrific voice which has entitled it to the name of 

 Bos-taurus. Its attitude, when at rest, is singular ; the bill being 

 raised towards the heavens*. 

 The adult Night-Heron, with the port of the Bitterns and a bill 

 proportionably thicker, has a few slender feathers on the occiput. 

 There is but one species found in France, 



Ard. nycticorax, L. ; Bihoreau d' Europe -f, Enl. 758; Frisch, 



203; Naum, Ed. I, 26, f. 35. (The Night-Heron). The male is 



w^hite; back and calotte black; the young bird, Enl. 759, grey, with 



a brown mantle and a blackish calotte J. 



"We must observe, however, that these various subdivisions of the 



Herons are of but little importance, and are by no means well marked. 



The third tribe, besides having a thicker and smoother bill than is 

 found in the second, has tolerably strong and almost equal membranes 

 between the base of its toes. 



CiCONIA, CuV» 



The Storks have a thick bill, moderately cleft; neither fossae nor 

 grooves; the nostrils pierced towards the back and near the base; and 

 the bottom of which is occupied by an extremely short tongue. Their 

 legs are reticulated, and the anterior toes strongly palmated at base, par- 

 ticularly the external ones. The light and broad mandibles of their bill, 

 by striking against each other, produce a clash which is almost the only 

 sound that proceeds from these birds. Their gizzard is but slightly mus- 

 cular, and their caeca so small that they are scarcely perceptible. Their 

 lower larynx has no proper muscle ; their bronchias are longer than com- 

 mon, and composed of rings more complete than usual. There are two 

 species in France, _^ 



Ardea ciconia, L., Enl. 866; Frisch, 196; Naum. Ed. I,~227fi 

 31. (The White Stork.) "S\liite; quills of the wings black; feet 

 and bill red. A large bird, held in great veneration by the people, 

 a distinction arising from the fact that it destroys snakes and other 



• Add, /^. Minor, Wils. VIII, Ixv, 3, or A. stellaris, B. Gm.; Edw., 136;—^. 

 undulnta, Gm. Enl. 768; — A. phiUppensis, Gm. Enl. 90S (a). 



t According to Meyer, the results of whose labours we still foUow, the Ard. 

 grisea, A. maculata, and the A. hadia of Gmel. are different states of the A. nycti' 

 corax. 



X Add, A. pileata, Lath, or A. alba, B.; Gm., Enl. 907; — A. caledonica, Lath.; — 

 A. cayennensis, Enl. 899, or violacea, Wils. VIII, Ixv, 1, of which A. jamaicensis, 

 Gm. is the young;— ^. sihilatrix, T. Col. 271. — The Pouacre, Buff. {Ard. Gardeni, 

 Gm.) Enl. 309, appears to be the young of an ash-coloured Night Heron, with a 

 bronze-black calotte and black. It is the same as the A. maculata, Frisch, 202. 



(a) ^^ Add, also, A. violacea, Wils. VIIT, pi. Ixv, f. 1 ;—^. c<Bra/ea, Wils. VII, 

 pi. Ixii, f. 3;— A. virescens, Wils. VII, Ixi, f. 1; A.exilis, Wils. VIII, pi. Ixv, f. 4. 

 — Eng. Ed. 



