196 AEDEID^. 



Nycticorax nycticorax. Night-TIeeon. 



Ardea nycticorax Linncms, Sjst. Nut. 1758, p. 142 : 



S. Europp. 



Nycticorax griseus {Linn.) ; B. O. JJ. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 110 ; 



Saunders, Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 379. 

 Nycticorax nycticorax (Linn.) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. xxvi. 



1898, p. 146. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — Now an Occasional 

 Visitor, but until recently almost an annual one in spring and 

 autumn. It occurs most frequently on the south and east 

 coasts of England ; also inland, but is rare on the west coast 

 and to the north, though it has been recorded from Aberdeen 

 and the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland twenty-four examples, 

 mostly immature, have been noticed. 



General Distribution. — The Night-Heron breeds in central 

 and southern Europe and in temperate and southelrij Asia as 

 far east as the Sunda Islands and Moluccas ; also throughout 

 Africa. It wanders to the Faeroes, southern Sweden, and 

 Denmark, but is rare south of the Baltic ; also to the Azores 

 and C'unary Islands. In America it is represented by allied 

 forms. 



Genus BOTAURUS Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xi. 

 1819, p. 592. 



Type : B. sfellaris (Linn.). 



Botaurus=a, Bittern, in late Latin ; probably akin to ou •' Bittern," 

 Prencli ftutoj-, etc. Certainly not derived from bos+tau7-us, though perhaps 

 confused therewith in popular etymolog'y. 



Botaurus Stellaris. Bittern. 

 Ardea stellaris Linncms, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 144 : 



Sweden. 



Botaurus stellaris (Linn.) ; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, jj. Ill ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. xxvi. 1898, p. 253; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 383. 



