NIGHT HERON. 
41 
^so tlie long slender ))lnines that fiow from the head. 
These tacts I have exhibited by dissection on several 
subjects, to different literary gentlemen of niy acyiam- 
^nce, particularly to my venerable friend, Mr 'William 
"artrani, to whom I have also often shewn the young. 
of these last, which was kept tor some time in 
;ne botanic garden of that gentleman, by its TOiee 
'nstantly betrayed its origin, to the satisfaction o* 
JJ’ho examined "it. These young certainly receive their 
ell coloured plumage before the succeeding spring, as, 
^n their first arrival, no birds are to be seen in tlm 
Qeess of the yoiin"- bird ; but, soon after they have bred, 
fhese become more numerous than the others. Early 
?? llctobcr they migrate to the south. According to 
f*'»'«n, these ‘birds also inhabit Cayenne and are 
lound widely dispersed over Europe, Asia, and America. 
Huroiiean species, however, is (.'crtaiuly iniicli 
smaller than the American, though in other respects 
corresponding exactly to it. Among a great number 
^hich I examined with attention, the following des- 
cription was carefully taken from a common sized tiiU 
ifrown male. 
^'Cngth of the iiiirhi heron, turn feet four inches ; 
extent, four feet ; hill, black, four inches and a quarter 
ong from the corners of the mouth to the tip ; lores, 
^ Space botween the eye and a bare bluish white 
Skin ; eyelids also large and bare, of a deep purple 
00 > eye three-quarters of an inch in diameter ; the 
ris of a brilliant blood red ; pupil, hlaek ; crested crown 
“O'* hindhead, deep dark blue, glossed with green; 
and line over the eye, n'liite ; Irom the iiiudhead 
P*'Oteed three verv narrow, white, tapcriiij*’ leathers, 
between eight and nine inches in leiigtli ; the vanes ot 
®so are concave below, the upper one enclosing’ the 
and that again the lower ; though separated by 
'0 hand, if the plumage he again sliook several times, 
uesc long tlowiiig plumes gradually enclose each other, 
®Ppc.wiug as one ; these the liird has tlio habit ot 
ocecting when angry or alarmed : the clieeUs, neck, and 
t'holo lower parts, are white, tiiietnred with yellowish 
