Night stalker has Chinese nickname
Submitted by Chickowee on 18 Mar 2014.
"Standing like a bad-tempered school master at the edge of the reed bed, the nankeen night heron owes its unusual name to a Chinese import.
The word "nankeen" refers to the bird's buff-coloured back which is the same colour as a type of cloth called nankeen, which in Victorian times was imported from Nanking in China.
Also known as the rufous night heron – again because of its colour - this elegant bird, which usually sports two long head plumes throughout the year, is mainly nocturnal and is one of 11 species of herons found in Australia."
