146 



MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



Fit,', -i^- N<'st of (Jrocn Heron. 

 1 pliotoKiapli by Tlio.s. I,, llankiiisoii. 



76. Black-crowned Night Heron. Nycticorax nycticorax naevius 



{lio(hl). (202) 



Synonyms: Night Heron, Quawk, Squawk. — Ardea najvia, Bodd., 1783. — Botaurus 

 nu'viiis Briss., 17()0. — Nyctiardca grisea var. najvia, Allen, 1872. — Nyctiardca gardeni, 

 Baird, 18r)8. 



When adult never to l)e mistaken for anything else, the green-black 

 crown and back, white underparts, thread-like occipital plumes, and 

 brilliant red eyes, forming a unique combination. The immature bird, 

 gray-streaked and with yellow eyes, might be mistaken for the common 

 J^ittern which has about the same size and general appearance, but the 

 tints of the Bittern are much browner and the plumage never shows the 

 white"^spots"^and streaks of the Night Heron. 



Distribution. — America, from Ontario and Manitolxa southward to the 

 I'^alkland Islands, including part of the West Indies. 



I'^Tliis odd and beautiful heron seems to be nowhere common in Michigan. 

 It has been taken here and there throughout the lower half of the Lower 

 l'(!ninsula, but always singly and at long intervals. Most of the specimens 

 taken are young birds and found in late summer and early autumn. Ac- 

 cording to Swales (Birds of S. E. Mich., 1904) "It is now a rare bird and 

 seldom recorded. * * * In 1904, May 5, one was taken at St. Clair 

 Flats, and on July 16 I saw'one near the River Rouge." Langille says 

 that formerly it was "constantly seen at^the Flats in summer, sometimes in 

 large flocks, and no doubt bred in woods'not far'away" (Bulb Buffalo Soc. 

 Nat. Sci. 1877, 89). Mr. T. L. Hankinson found it by no means uncommon 



