126 ARDEIN^E. NYCTERODIUS. 



GENUS CXIV. NYCTERODIUS. NIGHT-HERON. 



The Night-Herons are of a more robust form than the 

 Bitterns, to which however they are nearly allied. The 

 body is stoutish, compressed ; the head oblong and narrow. 

 Bill scarcely longer than the head, stout, nearly straight, 

 compressed, tapering to a point ; upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line straight and declinate for two-thirds, then slightly 

 decurved, the ridge flattened and convex at first, then nar- 

 rowed, the nasal depression elongated -triangular, with a 

 groove extending to near the end, the edges sharp, with a 

 notch close to the tip, which is acute ; lower mandible with 

 the angle very long and very narrow, the dorsal line direct, 

 the sides concave, the edges sharp and serrulate, the tip 

 acuminate ; gape-line slightly arched. Mouth rather wide ; 

 tongue of moderate length, trigonal, flat above, tapering to 

 a point ; oesophagus very wide in its whole length ; proven- 

 triculus dilated ; stomach roundish, compressed, thin, with 

 a small roundish pyloric lobe ; intestine long and slender, 

 rectum with an oblong coecum ; cloaca globular. Nostrils 

 linear. Eyes large. Aperture of ear rather small, round- 

 ish. Legs long, moderately stout ; tibia bare for about a 

 fourth of its length ; tarsus moderate, with scutella ante- 

 riorly, but hexagonal scales below ; toes rather long, scu- 

 tellate ; first stout, second a little shorter than the fourth ; 

 claws moderate, arched, compressed, acute, that of the mid- 

 dle toe serrate. Plumage full, soft, blended ; feathers on 

 the occiput very long, linear, forming a pendent erectile 

 crest ; on the neck rather long, and inclined obliquely back- 

 wards ; on its lower part in front elongated and rounded ; 

 wings broad, of about twenty-six quills ; the second and 

 third longest ; tail short, even, of twelve broad feathers. 



The species of this genus are more active than the Herons, 

 and less graceful in their motions than the Egrets. They 

 feed on reptiles, fishes, and insects ; nestle on the ground, 

 or on trees or bushes, laying three or four broadly elliptical 

 pale blue eggs. Only one species is found in Britain. Al- 

 though named Night-Herons, they do not appear to be more 

 nocturnal than other species. 



