THE BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. 631 



eluding back and interscapular region) lustrous greenish black: the occipital 

 crest with several narrow, much-elongated, cylindrical, pure white plumes : re- 

 maining upperparts ashy- or smoky-gray ; edge of wing white ; bill black ; lores 

 greenish: irides red; legs yellow. Iiitinatitrc: Above fuscous, with central 

 stripes, or centro-terminal wedge-shaped spots of white and buffy : green-tinged 

 on crown and back, or not, according to age: below and on sides of head and 

 neck white heavily streaked with fuscous. Length 23.00-26.00 (584.2-660.4); 

 wing 12.50 (317.5): tail 4.75 (120.6): bill 3.00 (76.2): tarsus 3.30 (83.8); 

 middle toe and claw 3.45 (87.6). 



Recognition Marks. — Brant size; greenish black crown and mantle of adult 

 contrasting with ashy gray : general streakiness of young. 



Nesting. — Xcst: a platform of sticks, usually placed high in trees, but occa- 

 sionallv in low bushes or even on the ground. Eggs, 4-6, pale, dull blue. Av. 

 size. 2.00x1.45 ('50.8x36.8). Season: May; one brood. 



General Range. — America from Ontario and Manitoba southward tn the 

 Falkland Islands, including part of the \\'est Indies. 



Range in Washington. — Not common summer resident and migrant east of 

 the Cascade ^fountains, chiefly in Douglas County ; of rare occurrence but 

 possibly resident on Pugct Sound. 



Authorities. — Keck, \\'ilson Bulletin, No. 47. lune. 11)04, P- ?4- '^'- C&S, 

 L". Kk. 



Specimens. — (U. ofW'.) C. 



TRL'E to their name, the Black-crowned Night Herons tly and 

 hunt chiefly by night. On this account and liecause of their throaty notes, 

 they have ever been the objects of superstitious dread on the part of 

 savages; and the sounds which they make are not exactly comforting to 

 the ears of white men, sa\x those of tlie hardened ornitliologist. The 

 well-known cry may sometimes be allowed to pass as qua'vk (never 

 "qua"), but usually it is jerked out with emphasis or ill-nature, and 

 sounds more like zvanrk. or i<.vi(.'rh. Harmless as the monosyllable may 

 appear when uttered singly, and when divested of its ghostly suggestive- 

 ness, the din raised by a Heron rookery is said to be mighty and discordant 

 beyond words. 



As the nesting season imposes greater obligations upon the ]jarents they 

 hunt by day as well as by night, being found sometimes singly but oftener 

 in pairs, mo\'ing from place to place with laggard wings beating in stately 

 svncopation. 



This bird may be seen to ad\-antage about the undisturbed lakes of 

 the arid transition zone in eastern ^^'ashington. Here it moves about slug- 

 gishlv at the edge of a pool, or else, posting on a commanding block of basalt, 

 one will stand sentinel by the hour, head withdrawn between shoulders like 

 an adjutant in a great coat, unobserving (apparently), unmindful of the 

 passage of time, a somber gray figure which embodies better than anything 

 else the dear desolation of the wilderness. 



