Besides the two species described there are no fewer than eight herons in our list of British birds, most of these being very rare stragglers to our shores:—
Purple heron (Ardea purpurea) is a straggler from the continent of Europe; it breeds in Holland.
Great white heron (Ardea alba).—Eight examples of this species, a straggler from South-eastern Europe, have been obtained in this country.
Little egret (Ardea gazetta).—A waif from Southern Europe; it also inhabits Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Buff-backed heron (Ardea bubulcus).—Inhabits Southern Europe; three examples have been obtained.
Squacco heron (Ardea ralloïdes).—From Southern Europe; occasionally seen on migration in England.
Little bittern (Ardetta minuta).—This bittern almost deserves to rank as a British species, as it is of somewhat frequent occurrence, and has been known to breed in the Broads of Norfolk, and in other localities in Great Britain. It is a summer visitor to most countries in Europe.
Night heron (Nycticorax griseus).—This heron has a range almost as extensive as that of the barn-owl, and breeds in many localities throughout the continent of Europe. The question as to whether or not it has ever bred in England has not been settled; but it is now an almost annual spring and autumn visitor to our country, and it is hardly to be doubted that it would breed with us if unmolested, or, in other words, allowed to live.
American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus).—A few examples of this North American bittern have been obtained in this country.