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AUDEINiE. NYCTERODIUS. 
GENUS CXIV. NYCTERODIUS. NIGHT-HERON. 
The Night-Herons are of a more robust form than the 
Bitterns, to which however they are nearly allied. The 
body is stoutish, compressed ; the head oblong and narrow. 
Bill scarcely longer than the head, stout, nearly straight, 
compressed, tapering to a point ; upper mandible with the 
dorsal line straight and declinate for two- thirds, then slightly 
decurved, the ridge flattened and convex at first, then nar- 
rowed, the nasal depression elongated-triangular, with a 
groove extending to near the end, the edges sharp, with a t 
notch close to the tip, which is acute ; lower mandible with j 
the angle very long and very narrow, the dorsal line direct, 
the sides concave, the edges sharp and serrulate, the tip 
acuminate ; gape-line slightly arched. Mouth rather wide ; [ 
tongue of moderate length, trigonal, flat above, tapering to 1 
a point ; oesophagus very wide in its whole length ; proven- 
triculus dilated ; stomach roundish, compressed, thin, with 
a small roundish pyloric lobe ; intestine long and slender, j 
rectum with an oblong coecum ; cloaca globular. Nostrils 
linear. Eyes large. Aperture of ear rather small, round- 
ish. Legs long, moderately stout ; tibia bare for about a j 
fourth of its length ; tarsus moderate, with scutella ante- 
riorly, but hexagonal scales below ; toes rather long, scu- 
tellate ; first stout, second a little shorter than the fourth ; 
claws moderate, arched, compressed, acute, that of the mid- 
dle toe serrate. Plumage full, soft, blended ; feathers on 
the occiput very long, linear, forming a pendent erectile 
crest ; on the neck rather long, and inclined obliquely back- 1 
wards ; on its lower part in front elongated and rounded ; 
wings broad, of about tw T enty-six quills ; the second and 
third longest ; tail short, even, of twelve broad feathers. 
The species of this genus are more active than the Plerons, j 
and less graceful in their motions than the Egrets. They 
feed on reptiles, fishes, and insects ; nestle on the ground, 
or on trees or bushes, laying three or four broadly elliptical 
pale blue eggs. Only one species is found in Britain. Al- 
though named Night-Herons, they do not appear to be more 
nocturnal than other species. 
