378 AVES. 
The adult Nicur-Herron, with the port of the Bitterns, and a beak 
proportionably thicker, has a few slender feathers on the occiput. 
There is but one species found in France, 
Ard. nycticorax, L.; Bihoreau d’Europe(1) Enl. 7583 Epes, 
203; Naum, Ed. I, 26, f. 35. (The Night Heron.) The male 
is white; back and Bioite black; the young bird, Enl. 759, grey 
with a brown mantlegand a blackish calotte. (2) ! 
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 
beak than is found in the second, has tolerably strong and. 
almost equal membranes between the base of the toes. 
Ciconra, Cuv. 
The Storks have a thick beak, moderately cleft; no fossz or grooves; 
the nostrils pierced towards the back and near the base; an extremely 
short tongue. Their legs are reticulated, and the anterior toes 
strongly palmated at base, particularly the external ones. The light 
and broad mandibles of their beak, by striking against each other, 
produce a clash which is almost the only sound that proceeds from 
these birds. Their gizzard is but slightly muscular, and their ceca 
so small that they are scarcely perceptible. Their lower larynx has 
no peculiar muscle; their bronchiz are longer than common, and 
composed of more than the usual number of rings. There are two 
species in France, 
Ardea ciconia, L.; Enl. 886; Frisch, 196; Naum. Ed. I, 29, f. 
(The White Stork.) White; quills of the wings black; feet 
and beak red. A large bird, held in great veneration by the 
people, a distinction arising from the fact that it destroys 
snakes and other noxious reptiles. It prefers building its nest 
on towers, in steeples, &c.; and after having once constructed 
undulata, Gm. Enl. 768;—.2. philippensis, Gm. Enl. 908. [Add, also, 4. violacea, 
Wils. VII, pl. Ixv, f..1;—.2. cxrulea, Wils. VII, pl. lxii, f. 3;—4. virescens, Wils. 
VU, lxi, f. 1;—4. exilis, Wils. VIL, pl. lxv, f. 4. 4m. Ed.) 
(1) According to Meyer, the results of whose labours we still follow, the Ard. 
grisea, A. maculata, and the 1. badia of Gmel. are different states of the 4. nyeti- 
corax. 
(2) Add 4. pileata, Lath., or 4. alba, @; Gm., Enl. 907;—A. caledonica, Lath. ;— 
A. cayennensis, Enl. 899, or violacea, Wils. VII, lxv, 1, of which 2. jamaicensis, 
Gm. is the young;—.7. sibilatriz, T. Col. 271.—The Pouacre, Buff. (Ard. Gardeni, 
Gm.) Enl. 309, appears to be the young of an ash coloured Night Heron, with 2 
bronze-black calotte and back. It is the same as the .2. maculata, Frisch, 202. 
