19<i ARPE1D.K. 



Nycticorax nycticorax. NIGHT-HERON. 



Ardea nycticorax Linnceus, Sjst. Nat. 1758, p. 142 : 

 S. Europe. 



Nycticorax griseus (Linn.) ; B. O. IT. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 110 ; 



Sounders, Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 379. 

 Nycticorax nycticorax (Linn.) Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. Jf. xxvi. 



1898, p. 146. 



Distribution in the British Islands. Now an Occasional 

 Visitor, but until recently almost an annual one in spring and 

 autumn. It occurs most frequently on the south and east 

 coasts of England ; also inland, hut is rare on the west coast 

 and to the north, though it has been recorded from Aberdeen 

 and the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland twenty-four examples, 

 mostly immature, have been noticed. 



General Distribution. The Night-Heron breeds in central 

 and southern Europe and in temperate and southern Asia as 

 far east as the Sunda Islands and Moluccas ; also throughout 

 Africa. It wanders to the Faeroes, southern Sweden, and 

 Denmark, but is rare south of the Baltic ; also to the Azores 

 and Canary Islands. In America it is represented by allied 

 forms. 



Genus BOTAURUS Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xi. 

 1819, p. 594. 



Type : B. stellarls (Linn.). 



Botauntsa, Bittern, in late Latin ; probably akin to ou ' Bittern," 

 French butor, etc. Certainly not derived from bos+taurnn, though perhaps 

 confused therewith in popular etymology. 



Botaurus stellaris. BITTERN. 



Ardea Stellaris Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 144: 

 Sweden. 



Botaurus stellaris (Linn.) ; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. Ill ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. xxvi. 1898, p. 253; Savnt/cis, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 383. 



