NY C T ICORAX. CALEDON TOUS.
Niiukeen Night Heron.
Ardea Calédonien, Lath. Ind. 0_rn., voj.;ii.^.;6^p^Gmel. 'Edit. Linn, Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 626.
Cdledonian Night Heron, LathYGBn^B^»^o^£^t^^^C§^ ^W oy., vol. ii. p. 111. pi. 50.—Lath. Gen. Hist,
'NgfçtifioraæùQdle^dgniçus, L e s s ? ; . X . V
Ardea Sparmanefi^iN^^l-; Syst. Ay.', sp. 32.
flew-Holland Night Heron, Lath.àG||ï| Hist., vol. ^x.ƒp,: 62.' youngs
Gnal-gah-ning, Ahorigmes^^^Jh^laiid 'districts of Western Australia
Quaker and Nankeen-bird of the j^olpnistsï.
AUêr-wpon3 Ahorigineg of Bort Essington.
T his beautiful species is uniyersallydispersed; over the continent of Australia, but is far less abundant on
the western than on the eastern, coa^^In the southern latitudes it is only a summer visitant, arriving in New
South Wales and South Aust^^ih^ijc^iigust and September, and retiring again in February. As its name
implies, it is nocturnal and^Eorh its frequenting^swamllii inlets o f the sea, the sedgy banks of
rivers, and other secluded sitiM ^ M ^ ^ sfseldoth- seen. On the approach o f morning it retires to the forests
and perches among the branches.o f large trees, where, shrouded from the heat of the sun, it sleeps the
whole day, and when once discQvered' is^^^y^prpcured, as it seldom moves unless shot at or driven from
its perch by some other means0ahd^^ |f|||rait its perch it merelp flies a short distance and again
alights:' „ It;s fl^ ^ fe s *sl^^^^^rop^g£^d^dlring*ijts passage through t^ ^ iC tjhe head is drawn back
between the shoulders and thelegs'^^p^etc^ed^out backwards after th^manherlof the true Herons. When
perched on the- tre^^^^ p ^ g lb p ^ ^ ^ ^ ro n ^ ^ ^ SMftsfpi&ne* o f f he efegance of those birds, its
short neck resting smaller figure on the'accompanying Plated; When
impelled by liunger to -it naturally fj^eomes more animated, and its actions
p^Trle lively and prying; S S S ^ d ^ ^ ^ L o f J t s food in fact Jp^a^f^ome degree o f activity— fishes, water-
lizards, crabs, frogs; leecbesli^ ^ ^sc^ts^heihg all partaken o f wit^equal- avidity. >
It breeds in the months of November and December, and generally in companies like the true Herons;
the %r®urite lo ca litieg ^ ^ ^ g h e neighbourhood o f swampy districts, where an abundant supply o f food is
to;b ^ p § S ie d ^ : | | e gfand®|S^Marge trees, points o f ^ ^ p ^ rocks and j j j | | t f e ^ e equally chosen as a
i i e fer # ii nest, which ^ ^ ^ S l a r g e and flat, and;; generally composed of crooked sticks-dposely interwoven.
" The, eggs, which areSij^^M ^ ^ ^ in1 nurhher, .are: of a pale gteen colour, and average two inches
and and a ^ ^ ^ bread%V _
u ^ o ^ |tle differenqe::^^gin the colouring'of; the sexes, t h a t j ^ extremely difficult to distinguish the
p M f from the female, ant. never with certainty unless dissection be Resorted to ; both have the three beautiful
elongated occipital plumes, the use^qf ^Jli^h except fo^OTament|is not easily imagined. The young,
the contrary, differ so* greatly ffontthe adult, that t ^ g ^ ^ g g M i l y : be regarded as a distinct species,
S i f he following is a faithful des^criptionpfa mature bir^and a . y qung^® pf tli e firstly ear:—
T he ad uif has the crown of|||fe|head an^ k^ lap e^black ;^c|p |t^p lunies white; baclcof the neck, all
thempper surface, wings and l l f e i c h cinnamon-brown; stripe o v j^ ^ g ^ s jd e s ; o f thpfface, neck and all
tbpunder: surface pure the white a n d ^ ^ T O ^ ^ ^ K ^ |!| .b lin d in g the neck ; bare
space surrounding tbe e^g |een isb yellow firid es . orange; bill in &.ome|8pecimens black, sli^htfetipped
with ^llbw, in others blic^%itb_ a streak of;,peemsji yellow along the lower mandible, and a wash o f the
same hue along ilie lower edge, of t h e . u p p e r . l e g s and feet jonqnil-yellow ; claws b la c k .^
»Phe yo'upg^'bird has t h e > b p | ^ S & & & In f f-a fj blackish brown,—narrow and
lanceolate on the head and neck, broad ^ndiconspipuoi^nn the back and wings ; primaries and tail-feathers
dark chestnutrred, ^ep e^p g lin to black near^e^extreinity and tipped with buffy white; all the under surface
huffy white,'with a stripe of brown down the centre, of each feather ; irides 'yeljdwf^ -
The figures represent the old a n p y ^ u p ^M B a r iy ^ ^ p i^ ;^ ^ ^ ^ *