Night Heron

Night-Heron, any bird of the cosmopolitan genus Nycticorax, with nine species closely allied to the Heron (q.v.), which it resembles in habit The Common Night-Heron (N. griseus), which breeds in the south of Europe, has of late vears visited Britain. It is about two feet long, with bluish-grey plumage; a black patch runs from the crown to the middle of the back.