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p. 333) that in the Zambesi region it is common in all marshes, and roosts among the reeds on 

 the islands, and it is stated to inhabit Madagascar, where, however, it is rare. 



In Asia the Night-Heron ranges eastward to Japan, and south to the Malay archipelago. 

 Menetries met with it at Lenkoran; Mr. Blanford saw it at Isfahan; and Major St. John found 

 a colony inhabiting a large cypress tree in a garden at Firiizabad, eighty miles south of Shiraz, 

 in the winter of 1866-67. Mr. Hume often observed it in Sindh; and according to Dr. Jerdon 

 (B. of India, ii. p. 759), " the Night-Heron is found throughout India, is very common in many 

 parts of the country, but is somewhat local in its distribution. During the day it roosts in palm- 

 groves, tamarind-trees, and patches of jungle near water, issuing forth soon after sunset, and 

 winging its way towards its feeding-ground, uttering at intervals its well-known cry ivah-wak, 

 which has been given as its name throughout the greater part of India." Dr. Henderson found 

 it abundant in the lower valley of Cashmere ; according to Mr. Holdsworth (P. Z. S. 1872, p. 478) 

 it is not uncommon in Ceylon in suitable localities ; and Davison met with it on Trinkut Island, 

 Nicobars. Eastward it is common in China, breeding in the interior to Pekin ; and Mr. Swinhoe 

 noticed it also on the island of Formosa. It is also, according to Von Siebold, numerous in 

 Japan. Meyen records it from Manilla; and I have seen examples from the Philippines. 



In America the Night-Heron is widely distributed. I found it rare in New Brunswick ; but 

 it is said to breed abundantly in the New England States ; and Mr. C. H. Merriman states that 

 it is a common summer resident in Connecticut, remaining into October. It winters in the 

 Southern States and Central America. I found it tolerably common in those portions of Texas 

 I visited; Messrs. Sclater and Salvin record it (Ibis, 1859, p. 227) from Central America; and 

 Mr. A. von Frantzius writes (J. f. O. 1869, p. 376), "This Night-Heron, which ranges in South 

 America from the Argentine provinces to Guiana, is very rare in Costa Rica ; to my knowledge 

 it has been shot there only on one occasion." Further south in America it is replaced by a 

 closely allied species, Nycticorax obscurus (Licht.). It is also found in the West Indies ; and 

 Dr. Gundlach says that it is found in Cuba throughout the year, and undoubtedly breeds there. 



The Night-Heron, as its name implies, is, to a large extent, nocturnal in its habits, though 

 not altogether so ; for it is not unfrequently found prowling about during the day. As a rule, 

 however, I have discovered them hidden away in some densely foliaged tree during the brighter 

 portions of the day ; but so soon as it begins to get dusk they appear to regain their activity, and 

 sally forth in search of food. I have generally found it amongst trees, and less seldom in low 

 bushes or rushes, but always in some damp, swampy locality; and it appears, as a rule, to sit 

 on a large branch with its neck drawn in and body elevated, and will remain for long in the 

 same position if undisturbed. It is shy and suspicious, avoiding the vicinity of inhabited places, 

 and resorting to localities where it is seldom molested or disturbed by man, except in those 

 countries where it is protected and held sacred, as in China. Mr. Swinhoe gives a most graphic 

 description of one of these colonies at Canton (Ibis, 1861, p. 53): — "This is the sacred bird 

 of the great Honam Temple, Canton. The court-yard in front of this temple contains some 

 venerable banyans, as well as a few towering cotton-trees (Bombax malabaricum). On the higher 

 branches of the former the small flat wicker nests of the Night-Heron may be seen in all direc- 

 tions, some only a foot or so from others ; and the croaking and flapping and fighting that goes 

 on overhead bears some distant resemblance to the crowded deck of an emigrant steamer on first 



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