136 HERONS AND BITTERNS. 



color of their legs and feet serves as a distinguishing character at some 

 distance. They are silent when feeding, but when undisturbed in their 

 rookeries each bird seems to have something to say, and the result is a 

 strange chorus of croaking voices. They feed by day, and generally 

 wait for their prey to come within striking distance. 



SOI. Ardea virescens Linn. Little Green Heron; Poke (see 



Fig. 19). Ad. — Crown and a short line below the eye glossy greenish black ; 

 throat buffy white, this color extending down the foreneck as a narrow line 

 mixed with blackish, widening on the breast; rest of the head and neck 

 rufous-chestnut glossed with vinaceous ; back, witli lengthened interscapulars, 

 green, more or less washed with bluish gray ; wing-coverts green, margined 

 with white or buft'y ; belly ashy gray, more or less washed with bufty. Im. — 

 Similar, but with the neck and under parts streaked with blackish; back 

 without lengthened feathers or wash of blue-gray ; wing-coverts widely mar- 

 gined with butfy ochraceous. L., lY'OO; W., 7'25; Tar., 1-90; B., 2*50. 



Range. — Tropical and temperate America; breeds as far north as Mani- 

 toba, Ontario, and the Bay of Fundy ; winters from Florida southward. 



Washington, very common S. K., Apl. 15 to Sept. Long Island, common 

 S. K., Apl. to Oct. Sing Sing, common S. E., Apl. 6 to Sept. 26. Cambridge, 

 common S. K., May 5 to Sept. 



Nest.^ a platform of sticks in a bush or low branch of a tree. Eggs., thi-ee 

 to six, pale, dull blue, 1'50 x 1-14. 



The shores of wooded streams or ponds are frequented by this small 

 Heron in preference to more exposed situations. It is most active in 

 the early morning or at nightfall, and during the day rests quietly in 

 some sheltered situation. When startled, it springs into the air with a 

 frightened squaivk, and, alighting at a safe distance on a tree or on 

 some elevated perch, with upstretched neck watches the intruder, be- 

 traying its apprehension by nervous twitchings of the tail. It is a 

 solitary bird, and, unlike most Herons, is never found in flocks. 



202. Nycticorax nycticorax nsevius (Bodd.). Black-crowned 

 Night Heron ; Quawk. Ad. — Forehead, lores, neck, and under parts white 

 or whitish ; crown, upper back, and scapulars glossy, greenish black ; lower 

 back, wings, and tail ashy gray ; legs and feet yellow ; lores greenish ; two or 

 three white rounded occipital plumes about 8-00 in length. Im. — Upper parts 

 grayish brown, the feathers streaked or with wedge-shaped spots of white or 

 buffy; outer web of primaries pale rufous; under parts white, streaked with 

 blackish. L., 24-00 ; W., 12-00 ; Tar., 3-20 : B., 3-00. 



Range. — Breeds from Manitoba and New Brunswick southward through 

 South America; winters from the Gulf States southward. 



Washington, not uncommon S. E., occasional in winter. Long Island, 

 common S. E., Apl. to Oct., a few winter. Sing Sing, common S. E., Apl. 6 

 to Oct. 20. Cambridge, P. E., most common in Aug. and Sept. 



JSfest., of sticks, in colonies, generally in the upper parts of tall trees, some- 

 times in bushes or on the ground. Eggi^, four to six, pale, dull blue, 2-00 x 1-40. 



