234 



I quote the following interesting account of this species from Gould's ' Birds of Australia : ' — 

 " In the southern latitudes it is only a summer visitant, arriving in New South Wales and South 

 Australia in August and September, and retiring again in February. As its name implies, it is 

 nocturnal in its habits ; and from its frequenting swamps, the sedgy banks of rivers, and other 

 secluded situations, it is seldom seen. On the approach of morning it retires to the forests and 

 perches among the branches of large trees, where, shrouded from the heat of the sun, it sleeps 

 the whole day, and when once discovered is easily shot ; for, if forced to quit its perch, it merely 

 flies a short distance and again alights. Its flight is slow and flapping ; and during its passage 

 through the air the head is drawn back between the shoulders, and the legs are stretched out 

 backwards, after the manner of the true Herons. When perched on the trees, or resting on the 

 ground, it exhibits none of the grace and elegance of those birds, its short neck resting on the 

 shoulders. When impelled to search for a supply of food, it naturally becomes more animated 

 and its actions lively and prying ; the varied nature of its food in fact demands some degree of 

 activity — fishes, water-lizards, crabs, frogs, leeches, and insects being all partaken of with equal 

 avidity. 



" It breeds in the months of November and December, and generally in companies, like the 

 true Herons, the favourite localities being the neighbourhood of swampy districts, where an 

 abundant supply of food is to be procured ; the branches of large trees, points of shelving rocks, 

 and caverns are equally chosen as a site for the nest, which is rather large and flat, and generally 

 composed of crooked sticks loosely interwoven. The eggs, which are usually three in number, are 

 of a pale green colour, and average two inches and five eighths in length by one inch and a half 

 in breadth." 



