NYCTICOEAX CYANOCEPHALUS 85 



the British Museum. If it is a younger bird, it carries a 

 long head pkime — a single white pennant 9 inches long, 

 j^ inch broad. Only one male in the British Museum shows 

 the head plume, and it has two such feathers rather less than 

 6 inches lono'. 



The Night Heron is not plentiful. I have only met with it in 

 the forest country to the south of Useless Bay, though I heard of 

 one roosting in the woodwork of a bridge over the Rio San 

 Martin, in San Sebastian Settlement. It .occurs in colonies of 

 from four or five to perhaps a dozen. 



A colony of about seven frequented the Rio McClelland 

 Valley. They were extremely retiring: in the day time they 

 remained hidden in the forest depths ; at dusk of evening 

 they repaired to the seashore, returning inland again before 

 broad daylight. 



In Whiteside (Channel, I saw these birds on the rocks at 

 noonday. On my approach, riding along the beach, they 

 would take wing out to sea, flying low over the water and 

 describing a curve, to return to land elsewhere. In their forest 

 retreats, they are of stupid habit when intruded on ; they 

 crane their necks, make weird noises, shift about uneasily, lose 

 foothold, and flop clumsily from tree to tree, conscious of danger, 

 5''et incapable of adopting any definite course for self-preservation. 



I shot this specimen in the forest with the *410, No. 7 shot. 



