194 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON 



Nycticorax nycticorax 



A. U- U. Xumber 202 



Other Names. — Night Heron ; American Night 

 Heron; Qua-bird ; Quawk ; Squawk; Gardenian Heron. 



General Description. — Length, 26 inches. Color 

 above, black and ashy-gray ; below, white. Head crested 

 and, in breeding plumage, with a few long white cord- 

 like plumes from back of crown. 



Color. — Adults: Crou'ii, back, and shoulders, black; 

 rest of upper parts, wings, and tail, pale ashy-gray; 

 forehead, sides of head, and throat, white shading into 

 v^ry pale lavender on neck; rest of under parts, white; 

 bill, black; legs, yellow; iris, red; bare space around 

 eye, yellowish-green. Young : Entire plumage, grayish- 

 white, streaked on head, breast, and beneath with dark 



nasvius {Boddacrt ) 



See Color Tlate J4 



brown ; streaked and spotted on back with rusty and 

 whitish ; wing-coverts, brown with conspicuous white 

 triangular tips; primaries, dusky-brown; bill, dull yel- 

 lowish; feet, pale greenish-yellow; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : In trees, bushes, or on 

 ground; a large but loosely constructed affair of 

 branches and twigs. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale sea-green. 



Distribution. — North and South America; breeds 

 from northern Oregon, southern Wyoming, southern 

 Manitoba, northern Quebec, and Nova Scotia south to 

 Patagonia; winters from northern California and Gulf 

 States southward; casual in winter north to Massachu- 

 setts and southern Illinois. 



Though not strictly a nocturnal bird, as it 

 moves about more or less in the daytime, the 

 Black-crowned Night Heron feeds chiefly in the 

 evening or after the night has fallen. As the 

 twilight deepens it may be seen flying heavily 

 toward its favorite feeding places, and now is 

 most fre([uently heard the loud and raucous 

 qucra'k from which is has received one of its 

 popular names. 



The hirtl's preferred htmting grounds are 

 shallow tidal creeks, the edges of ponds, and 

 swamps which include pools. Here it hunts, 

 ttsually alone and often at a distance of several 

 miles from its breeding place, so that the feeding 

 of the yoting frecjuently involves long flights 

 from the hunting ground to the nest. 



Its htmting methods differ from those of 

 its relative, the Great Blue Heron. Instead of 



Photo by W. L. Finlcy and H. T. Bohlman 



BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON ON NEST 



