UC6 NYCTICORAX GPJSEUS. 



with dark brown dashes, those on the breast with cinereous edges, and the rest unmarked ; thighs light slaty, 

 edged fulvous ; the inner sides whitish. 



At the next stage, which is probably at the commencement of the second year, the legs are greyish yellow. Upper 

 surface of a much darker cinereous brown, the head and upper back washed with blackish green, the head and 

 hind neck with fulvous mesial stripes ; the edges of the wing-coverts are fulvous and indistinct, as also tin- 

 angular tips of these feathers ; tips of the winglet and secondaries with one or two of the outer primaries white ; 

 face and sides of neck darker, with buff stripes ; the fore neck and breast buff-white, shading into slatv grey at 

 the exterior of the feathers ; the thighs whitish. 



The crest is not assumed until the uniform plumage of the adult is acquired, which is probably not until the third 

 year. It usually consists of two or three feathers ; but occasionally specimens have five or six ; and Mr. Dresser 

 instances one with ten. 



;. Chinese specimens are identical with Ceylonese ; the tints vary in the same manner, some are more buff beneath 

 than others ; aud this is probably a result of age. As will be observed from Mr. Dresser's measurements, American 

 specimens are the largest. Layard's dimensions for South-African examples are likewise large, if correct- 

 wing 13 - 0. 



.V. caledonicus, Lath., is the Malayo- Australian representative of this species, aud differs in having the mantle, scapulars, 

 wings. and tail fine cinnamon-colour; the crest-feathers are similar and the legs longer: wing 9'5 to 10*5 inches. 

 It is beautifully figured in Mr. Gould's ' Birds of Australia.' 



N. manillensis, Vigors, which inhabits the Philippines, is larger than the last-named, and with the red of the upper 

 surface deeper : wing ll'O to 11"5 inches. 



Distribution. — The Night-Heron is found in most low-country districts of the island; but it confines 

 itself to particular localities, and is easily passed over if the secluded spots in which it takes up its quarters do 

 not happen to be visited. It is now and then seen on the Colombo lake, but only as a straggler. At the 

 !h ad of the Bolgodde lake, in a small arm overgrown with immense reeds, aud lined with thickly-foliaged 

 trees, I found a very large colony. On the Amblangoda lake there is another. About Matara it is not 

 uncommon, and near Tangalla Layard discovered it on a lake there. Numbers were found by me at the tank 

 before mentioned, near Tissa Maba Rama. It occurs near large tanks in the Eastern Province, and in the 

 Trincomalie district I have discovered small colonies. At the head of the Pootoor lagoon, in the Jaffna 

 insula, it also occurs; and Mr. Parker informs me that it is not uncommon in suitable localities throughout 

 the North-western Province. 



In India it is very common in many parts, but, as in Ceylon, it is local in its distribution. It is mode- 

 rately common in the Deccan, and likewise near Ahmednagar ; also in Cbota Nagpur, where Mr. Ball records 

 it from the Rajmehal hills, Manblium, Lohardugga, Singhbhum, Sambalpur, Orissa, Nowagaih, and Karial ; 

 and Mr. Hume notes it from Raipur, It occurs about Calcutta, and in Furreedpore is abundant. It is not 

 recorded from Cachar. In Upper Pegu it is abundant in the great Engmah swamps, and breeds in great 

 numbers near Myitko, on the Sittaug. Dr. Armstrong found it rare iu the delta of the Irrawaddy ; but in 

 Tenasserim it is generally distributed. Mr. Davison noticed it in the Nicobars ; but I do not find it recorded 

 from the Andamans. Returning to the mainland, it is common in the North-west Provinces, aud is found 

 further north in the Punjab and Cashmere, extending into the Himalayas up to an altitude of 6000 or 7000 

 Feet. It is distributed throughout Sindh, Kutch, Kattiawar, and Jodhpoor; but is not recorded from the 

 vicinity of the Sambhur lake by Mr. Adam. It has been met with iu Persia at Isfahan and in the Shiraz 

 district, and inhabits the western portions of Turkestan, breeding up to an altitude of 4000 feet. Dr. Scullv 

 did not observe it in Kashgharia, nor did Prjevalsky encounter it anywhere in Mongolia, although it is very 

 common in China, particularly about Pekin. It is generally distributed in South Japan. Southward it is 

 resident in Formosa as well as in China, and likewise inhabits the Philippines. It is recorded from Celebes, 

 Ceram, Borneo (Banjermassing), Banka, and Java; but further south is replaced by N. caledonicus, which is 

 also found in Celebes. 



Returning now to the continent of Asia, it does not appear to range further north than Turkestan. 

 Canon Tristram met with it in Palestine, and it also occurs in Asia Minor. In Europe it is chiefly a summer 

 visitant, inhabiting as such the southern countries and the Mediterranean islands, and passing into Northern 

 Germany, Poland, and Holland, where it used to be commoner than it is now. It, however, breeds in the 



