Herodiones 139 



its food, however, is similar, though chiefly sought in 

 the twilight, and its eggs are merely smaller and rather 

 darker in colour. The nest of herbage is buUt on a 

 flattened mass of vegetation in reed-beds or swamps. 



Two other Herons are not very uncommon migrants 

 to Britain, the Squacco Heron {Ardeoh, ralloides) of 

 central and southern Europe, Africa and western Asia ; 

 and the Night Heron {Nycticorax nycticorax), of a some- 

 what similar range in Europe, which extends thence 

 over Africa, most of the temperate and hotter parts of 

 Asia, and is represented in North and South America 

 by very closely allied forms. The Squacco Heron is a 

 buff bird with white breast, which has long plumes on 

 the head and back during the breeding season ; it is 

 a comparatively small species, and its habits therefore 

 differ to some extent from those of the Common Heron. 

 The Night Heron is grey, with black crown and back, 

 and white head-plumes and breast. The note, generally 

 heard after dusk, is mournful. Both species breed in 

 colonies, but the former prefers low trees and bushes for 

 its nest, while the latter occasionally selects reed-beds. 



The Little Bittern {Ixobrychus minutus) holds an 

 intermediate position between the Bitterns proper and 

 the Herons, with an inclination to the habits of the 

 former. It used to breed occasionally in the eastern 

 districts of England, but no East Anglian nests have 

 been recorded for many years, and the bird is now only 

 an irregular visitor to any part of Britain. The male 

 is greenish black with buff neck and lower surface ; the 

 female is nearly brown above and much streaked with 

 white below. In Europe it nests south of the Baltic, 

 whence it ranges to north Africa, Central Asia, and 

 northern India. The food, of the same description as 



