YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON 
203. Nyctanassa violacea. 23 in. 
Like the last species, the head of this one is adorned 
with three long, rounded, white plumes; in life these 
plumes are rarely separated, but are nested together so 
that there appears to be but one. As dusk approaches, 
these birds sally out from their roosting or nesting 
places, and with slow, measured flaps, wing their way 
to their feeding grounds, which are usually fresh water 
bogs, teeming with animal and insect life. After dark 
the “quark” of Night Herons is frequently heard as 
the birds pass overhead, and they can very easily be 
decoyed by a crude imitation of their call. This species 
is principally confined to the South where it is found in 
heronries of its own kind, or in company with others. 
Notes.—Like those of the Black-crowned Night Heron. 
Nest.—A platform of sticks in trees, in swamps. 3 or 
4 pale bluish-green eggs (2.00 x 1.40); May. 
Range.—Breeds north to South Carolina and Southern 
Illinois: later may stray farther north. 
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