TANTALIN.E, 387 



longest ; tarsus short, reticulated in front, with large hexagonal 

 scales ; feet moderate ; claws short, curved 1 ; head] [crested ; 

 tail broad, even. 



Nycticorax griseus, Lin. 



937. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 758 ; Butler, Guzerat ; tf*^f t 



Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 24 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. I/ 



IX, p. 435; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 276; 



Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India; Ibis, 1885, p. 136. 2X* & 



THE NIGHT HERON. 

 WaJc, Hin. 



Length, 21 to 23 ; wing, 12'5 ; tail, 375 ; tarsus, 3 ; bill at front 

 2-8. 



Bill black, yellowish at base ; lores and orbits yellowish-green ; 

 irides blood-red ; feet yellowish-green. 



Forehead and a narrow streak above the eye white ; crown 

 of the head, upper part of back, and scapulars, black, glossed with 

 green ; occiput with a crest of three (or more) narrow long white 

 feathers, six to seven inches long, channeled, and fitting into each 

 other ; lower back, wings, and tail fine blue-grey ; all beneath 

 pure white. 



The young bird wants the occipital plumes ; the upper plumage 

 is brownish ashy, with whitish spots ; and the lower plumage 

 whitish with brown streaks. 



The Night Heron is a common and permanent resident in most 

 parts of our district. It breeds during the rains, making a large 

 loose stick nest, generally associating in colonies, with other 

 species of herons, &c. 



FAMILY, Tantalidee. 



Bill long, more or less thick, arched in many; the culmen 

 rounded and bent ; nostrils usually basal ; wings long ; tail rather 

 short ; tarsus long or moderate ; feet moderate ; anterior toes 

 joined at the base by web; hind-toe moderate, or rather short, 

 resting on the ground. 



SUB-FAMILY, Tantalinae. 



Bill very large, thick, rounded, smooth ; legs long. 



GENUS, Tantalus, Lin. 



Bill lengthened, straight ; culmen rounded ; the tip bent down, 

 slightly emarginated ; nostrils basal, superior ; head, . cheeks, and 

 throat bare ; legs lengthened ; tibia nude for half its length ; 

 tarsus long, reticulated ; toes moderately long, with a web between 

 the front toes ; hind-toe moderately long, slightly raised. 



Tantalus Jeucocephalus, Forster. 



938. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 761 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 



