Night-heron

Night-heron (Nycticorax), one of the genera of Herodiones (see HERON), including nine species. One species, N. griseus, widely distributed over the whole of Africa and southern Asia, and a migrant to places near the Baltic, has now become an almost annual visitor to the British Islands in spring and autumn. It is about 23 inches long; it nests in colonies on trees or bushes in swamps, and feeds on water insects and their larvæ, worms, snails, small fish, and frogs. Closely allied forms inhabit America; the N. nœvins (Nyctiardea Gardeni, Baird), the common American night-heron, is also found; in the Malayo-Australian region N. calcedonicus occurs.