ARDEIN^. ARDEA. 
261 
FAMILY XXXVIIL ARDEIN^. HERONS. 
Bill longer than the head, stout, tapering, compressed, 
pointed, its edges often irregularly serrate. Head oblong, 
compressed ; neck very long ; body much compressed. Eyes 
large or moderate. Nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal. 
Legs long, rather slender; tibia bare to a great extent; 
tarsus compressed, anteriorly scutellate ; toes rather long, 
the first on the same place, of moderate size, the outer toe 
a little longer than the inner, and with a slight web at the 
base; all compressed and scutellate. Claws rather long, 
arched, compressed, acute, that of the hind toe larger and 
more curved. Plumage blended. Wings long, very broad, 
with the outer four quills longest, secondaries very long. 
Tail very short, nearly even, of twelve rather weak feathers. 
CEsophagus very wide, without dilatation ; stomach small, 
very thin, with the inner coat soft and smooth ; intestine 
very long and extremely narrow ; no coecal appendages, but 
the large intestine forming a small sac at its commencement ; 
cloaca very large, globular. Trachea simple, generally 
cylindrical, with the bronchi wide, and a single pair of 
slender inferior laryngeal muscles. Nests large, flat, widely 
constructed, placed on trees, bushes, sometimes on the 
ground ; eggs from three to four, oval, light blue. Young 
remain in the nest until fledged, 
GENUS L ARDEA, Linn. HERON. 
* Night Herons. Bill slightly longer than the head, stout, taper- 
ing, compressed, with the upper outline somewhat curved ; legs of 
moderate length, bare part of tibia short ; neck thick ,* body full ; fea- 
thers of the neck elongated and curved backwards. 
365. 1. Ardea Nycticorax, Linn. Black-crowned Night 
Heron. — Qua-Bird. 
Plate CCXXXVI. Adult and Young. 
Male with the feathers of the upper and hind part of the head elon- 
