Night Heron SHORE AND MARSH BIRDS. 



smaller and smaller, until the day when the young were 

 ready to fly there were but three sticks left ; finally these 

 parted and the little Herons found themselves perching on 

 the branch that once held the nest ! 



This species feeds upon frogs, small fish, insects, the 

 larvae of the dragon-fly, etc. They are not strictly nocturnal, 

 but feed largely at dawn and dusk. 



Black- crowned Night Heron : Nycticorax nycticorax 

 ncBvius. 



Qua Bird; Quawk. 



Plate 70. 



Length : 23-26 inches. 



Male and Female : Above either dull or greenish black ; tail, wings, 

 and neck grayish. Throat and forehead whitish. Below livid 

 white. Crest of three long, white feathers rolled into one. 

 Bill black ; legs yellow. 



Season : Common summer resident ; April to October. 



Breeds : Southward from New Brunswick. 



Nest: Nest not large, built in a very slovenly manner in treetops, 

 usually in communities. 



JEggs : 3-4, pale sea-green. 



Bange : America, from the British Provinces southward to the Falk- 

 land Islands, including part of the West Indies. 



Another common Heron, only second to the Green, in 

 abundance. Here it frequents inland ponds in preference 

 to the salt-marshes, and, though I have not found its nests, 

 I have seen the birds all the way from Mill River to Bed- 

 ding under circumstances that point to their breeding in 

 single pairs. 



They are nocturnal, as the name indicates, and when 

 you come upon them in their roosts by daylight they are 

 dazed and sleepy, and use an effort to pull themselves to- 

 gether, but at twilight their heavy, dark bodies may be 

 seen flying overhead, identified beyond question by the cry, 

 " quok-quok," uttered at regular intervals. The sound is much 

 like that emitted by the kid bellows of a child's toy rooster, 

 and is the gazoo of the night orchestra. The skirl and 

 boom of the Nighthawk have an eery sound, and the Whip- 



254 



