2gS 
HERONS, STORES, AND IBISES. 
Night-Herons. 
a still smaller species, measuring only 19 inches in length; and is of special interest 
as form in «■ a connecting link between the others members of the genus and the 
night-herons. Its distinctive features are the great length of the beak, and the 
presence of a mane-like crest extending from the back of the head all down the 
neck. In the full plumage the feathers on the top of the head are yellowish 
brown, with dark streaks; those of the crest are white, with black borders; the 
sides of the head and neck are reddish buff; the interscapulars and long hair-like 
feathers of the back pale reddish brown; and the remainder of the plumage white. 
The beak is blue at the base and black at the tip; the lore green; and the legs are 
yellowish green, with black claws. Essentially a South European and African 
form, the scpiacco ranges in summer over the more northern parts of the continent, 
and has been taken on a considerable number of occasions in the British Islands. 
The night-herons, of which the European species (Nycticorax 
griseus) is the best known, are comparatively small birds, taking 
their name from their habit of spending the day in sleep and waking up in the 
evening to pass the greater part of the night in searching for food. They are 
distinguished by the relatively short beak being very thick at the base and 
slightly bent down at the tip; by the moderately long and stout legs, in which 
a portion of the tibia is naked, and the metatarsus is longer than the third toe; 
the very broad wings; and also by the plumage, with the exception of some three 
thread-like plumes from the back of the head being smoother and more compact 
than in the true herons. The scutes on the front of the metatarsus are six-sided, 
and the tail has twelve feathers. In the adult of the common species, the crown 
of the head, nape, upper back, and shoulders are blackish green, the remainder 
of the upper-parts and the sides of the neck ashy grey; the under-parts 
pale straw-colour; and the head plumes (which in old birds may be increased 
above the ordinary three) pure white. The iris is a fine purple-red, the beak 
black with a yellow base, the lore green, and the foot greenish yellow. In 
the young bird the head plumes are absent, the general colour of the upper 
plumage is brown with longitudinal rusty yellow and yellowish white flecks, 
while the under-parts have a whitish, and the neck a yellow ground with brown 
markings; both the iris and beak being brown. In total length the night-heron 
measures about 23 inches. 
The genus has an almost world-wide distribution, being found in regions as 
remote from one another as Britain and New Zealand; and the common European 
species has likewise a very wide range. In Northern Europe the latter is a 
comparatively rare visitor, and it is said to be becoming less numerous in the north 
of Germany and Holland, where it breeds; but it is abundant in Spain, Italy, and 
the Danubian provinces. Thence it extends eastwards through Palestine to India, 
Burma, China, and Japan, as well as the Malayan Islands; while it ranges 
throughout Africa, and is represented in North America by a rather larger race, 
which in South America passes into a darker variety. The habitat of the night- 
heron is generally in thickly-wooded districts, and by preference in the near 
neighbourhood of swamps; although not unfrequently these birds inhabit groves 
at considerable distances from water, from whence they make long nocturnal 
flights to their fishing-grounds. Except during the breeding-season, they seldom, 
