574 NYCTICORAXGORSACHIUS 



Is chiefly nocturnal in its habits, during the day remaining 

 hidden in some densely foliaged tree, and at the approach of 

 dusk starting off in search of its food, which consists of fish, 

 aquatic insects, worms, and crabs. Its flight is soft and noiseless 

 like that of an owl, and its note is a harsh croak, kwak, which is 

 seldom uttered except at night. It is as a rule a breeder on 

 trees, constructing a flat nest of twigs and small branches lined 

 with leaves of aquatic plants, rootlets, &c. Its eggs, 4 to 5 in 

 number, are usually deposited in April or May, and are uniform 

 pale greenish blue, glossless, and measure about 2*5 by 1'41. 



GORSACHIUS, Bp. } 1855. 



801. JAPANESE NIGHT-HERON. 

 GORSACHIUS GOISAGI. 



Gorsachius goisagi (Temm.), PI. Col. pi. 582 (1836) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. xxvi. p. 169 ; (Seebohm), B. Jap. Emp. p. 223. 



Miso-goi, Jap. 



( ad. (Japan). Upper parts deep foxy chestnut with a vinous coppery 

 tinge on the middle of the crown, nape, hind neck, and of the back ; most 

 of the upper parts veriniculated with blackish ; quills black tipped with 

 chestnut ; outer wing-coverts black tipped with white ; tail blackish 

 chestnut ; chin and upper throat whitish with central black stripes ; rest 

 of under parts rufescent ochreous, vermiculated with blackish, and 

 sparingly striped with black and white ; axillaries black and rufous ; bill 

 green ; culmen blackish ; legs and feet green ; iris yellow. Culmen 1'5, 

 wing 10*1, tail 3*7, tarsus 2'5 inch. Sexes alike. The young bird has the 

 back browner and more uniform, the wings boldly freckled with rufous 

 buff. 



Hob. Japan ; Formosa and the Philippines in winter. 



In habits it is chiefly nocturnal like the true Night-Herons, 

 and remains hidden in the trees by day, feeding at night on fish, 

 worms, crabs, &c. It frequents the forests, but nothing definite 

 appears to be as yet known respecting its nesting habits. 

 Gr. melanolophus, which inhabits the Malabar coast, Burma, the 

 Philippines, &c., is a closely allied form, differing in having the 

 tips of the quills edged with white and the axillaries black and 

 white; the crown and long nuchal feathers are also slaty 

 black. 



