882 



SYSTEM A TIC Si'A'OPSrS. — HERODIONES — HERODII. 



Scapulars neither lengtlicned nor narrowed. Sexes alike ; young very different. A well-marked 

 genus, almost cosmopolitan, containing ahout eight species; our Night Heron is a subspecies 

 of N. mjcticorax, a species wide-ranging in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Nyctiardea of all 

 previous eds. of the Key, after SwAiNS. Class. B. ii, 1837, p. 354, antedated by Nycticorax 

 Rafin. Anal. 1815, p. 71 ; Forster, Syn. Cat. Brit. B. 1817, p. 59; Steph. Gen. Zool. xi, 

 pt. ii, 1819, ]). G08. 



N. nycticor'ax nse'vius. (Lat- nycticorax : see under the genus ; and neevius, having a nesvus 

 or birtli-mark, i. e. spotted.) American Night Heron. Black-crowned Night Heron. 

 Gardenian Heron. Qua-Bird. Squawk. Quawk. Adult J^ 9, breeding dress : Crown, 

 scapulars, and interscapulars glossy greenish-black ; other upper parts, wings, and tail pale 

 bluish-gray with a lilac or lavender tinge, most decided ou neck. Forehead, sides of head, and 

 throat-line white, shading into lilaceous of neck ; under parts whitish, tinged with lilac. Long 

 occipital plumes white. Eyes red ; lores greenish ; bill black ; legs yellow ; claws brown. 

 Length 23.00-26.00 ; extent about 44.00; wing 12.00-13.00; tail 5.00; bill, tarsus, middle toe 

 with claw, each 3.00 or a little more; tibiae bare about 1.00. Young very different: Grayish- 

 brown above, the feathers with paler edges, rusty here ami there, conspicuously spotted with 

 white; lower parts paler or dull whitish, streaky with darker; greenish-black of head replaced 

 by chocolate-brown ; quills chocolate-brown, wliite-tipped ; no occipital plumes. U. S. and 



Night Heron. (L A. Fuertes.) 



British Provinces, common ; migratory ; resident in the South : most of West Indies and South 

 America. Breeds in heronries, sometimes of vast extent, resorted to year after year. Nest 

 large and frail ; in trees, sometimes in bushes, or on ground, especially in marshes of West ; 

 eggs 3-6, often 4, very pale sea-green, averaging 2.00 X 1-50. Our Night Heron is only a sub- 

 species of European N. nycticorax, whence the trinomial name; ^^ticevius" is only applicable 

 to young in spotted stage. Nyctiardea grisea ntcvia of all previous eds. of the Key ; Nycti- 

 corax nycticorax ncevius, A. O. U. Lists, 1st and 2d eds. 1886 and 1895, No. 202. 

 NYCTANAS'SA. (Gr. vvi, mix, night; avaaaa, anassa, a queen.) Thick-bill Night 

 Herons. Of uiedium size; length about 2 feet. Bill extremely stout for this family ; culmen 

 curved throughout; gonys convex, ascending; commissure and lateral outlines of bill straight 

 or ratiier convex ; bill much shorter than tarsus. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw, 

 reticulate excepting above in front. Feathers of occiput lengthened, the longest of great ex- 

 tent, and linear, forming a hanging crest; scapulars lengthened and lanceolate, the longest 

 loose-webbed, extending beyond tail. Sexes alike; colors variegated; young very different. 

 Genus Nyctiardea, in part, of 1st ed. of the Key, 1872, p. 269, after Swains. Class B. ii, 

 1837, p. 354 ; Nycterodius of 2d and 3d eds. 1884 and 1887, p. 663, after Nyctherodiiis Reich. 

 Syst. Av. 18.52, p. xvi; A. 0. U. List, 1st ed. 1886, p. 138, as subgenus ; Nyctinassa of 4th 

 ed. of Key, 1890, p. 905, misprint for Nyctanassa Stej. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. x, 1887, 



