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THE COMMON NIGHT-HERON. 
Nycticoraco Gardenii. 
PLATE VI. 
N. Europeus stcph Ardca nycticorax, Linn . — Bihoreau a 
manteau noir, Temm. — Night-Heron of British authors . — 
Nyctiardea, Swain. 
This bird is considered by all our writers, the Prince 
of Canino excepted, as ranging over both Europe 
and America, but by the ornithologist dissenting 
the distinctions are not given. TV e have been unable 
to compare an American specimen, but whatever 
may be the result, they are most closely allied, and 
although we keep the synonymes separate, we shall 
now treat of the species as identical.* Like many 
other birds where the livery is double, the adult and 
young have been described as distinct. The latter 
state is represented in the back figure of our plate, 
and was known under the appellation of A. Gardenii, 
which we have used at the head of this description. 
In Britain it is of occasional appearance, like all 
those rare species we have last described, and we do 
* Wilson however remarks, “ that the European species is 
certainly much smaller than the American.” 
