135* BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



apex less than half-way from centre of eye to end r.f bill, and about even with anterior end 

 of nostril; apex of malar region a little posterior to the frontal apex. Tarsi long and 

 slender, exceeding the middle toe by more than halt .the length of the latter; outer toe de- 

 cidedly longer than inner; hallux slightly longer than the first phalanx of the middle toe; 

 bare portion of tibia as long as the outer toe ; tarsal scutellte with a tendency to form trans- 

 verse plate., on the upper half, in front; claws exceedingly short, strongly curved, and 

 blunt. Innei we sot two outer primaries emarginated near the end: tail of twelve broad, 

 moderately hai'i feathers: interscapular plumes greatly elongated (extending beyond the 

 tail), narrow, the plumuhe thread-like and soft, and separated outwardly. Occipital plumes 

 linear, flattened, longer thau the head and bill, when fully developed, half a dozen or more 

 In number, and graduated iu length. 



Nycticorax violaceus (Linn.) 



TELLOW-CKOWNED NIGHT HERON. 



Popular synonyms. 'White-orowned Night Heron; Pedrete de mareara (Mexico). 

 Ardea stellaris cristata americana Catesby. Carolina. 1754. pi. 79 (adult). 

 Blhoreaii, de Cayenne Buff. PI. Enl. 1770-S4. pi. 8;i9 (adult). 



Ardea violacea Linn. S. N. od. Id. i. 1758, 143, No. 12 (ex Catesby, 1. c ); ed. 12. i, 1766, 238, No. 

 16.— WiLS. Am. Orn. viii, 1814, 26, pi. 65.— Ndtt. Man. ii, 1834, 52.— Aud. Orn. Biog. iv, 

 1838,.29ii, pi. 330; Synop. 1839, 262; Birds Am. vi, 1843, 89, pi. 364 (adult and young). 

 Nyctiardea violacea Swains. Classif. B. ii, 1837, 354.— CouBS, Key, 1872. 269; Check List, 



1873, No. 459. 

 Nyctherodms violacens Keichenb. Syst. Av. 1851. p. xvL—Baibd. Birds N. Am. 1858.079; 

 Cat. N. Am. B. 1859. No. 496.— Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 18jl. No. 496.— CouEs, Check 

 List, 2d ed. 1882, No. 0G5 (JV//c(erocZt«,s).— B. B. & B. Water B. N. Am. i. 1884. 61. 

 Nuclicorax violaceus ViG. Zool. Jour, iii, 1827, 446.— A. O. O, Check List, 18SC', No. 203.— 

 BiDGW. Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 133. 

 Cayenne Mght Heron Lath. Synop. iii, 1785, 56 (quotes PI. Enl. 899). 

 yellow-crowned Alight Heron Lath. t. c. 80. 



Ardea cayennensis Gmel. S. N. i, pt. ii. 178S, 626, No. 31 (based on PI. Enl. 899), 

 Ardea sexsetacea Yieill. Ene. Meth. iii, 1823, 1130 (Keichenow). 

 Ardea callooephala Wagl. Syst. Av. 1827, Ardea, sp. 34. 



Hab. Warm-temperate eastern North America. West Indies, Middle America, and 

 northern South America, breeding north to southern IlUnois and Indiana. On Atlantic 

 coast north to Pennsylvania (rare). West to Colorado, south to western Ecuador and the 

 Amazonian regions. Bermud.is. 



Sp. Char. A dull. Forehead, middle of the crown, long occipital plumes, and a 

 large longitudinal patch from the rictus to the ears, pure white ;' rest of the head deep 



In living and freshly killed specimens the forehead is a dslioate orei.my sulphur- 

 yellow color; but this fades perceptibly in a very .short time after death, and Unally disap- 

 appears entirely. Audubon (Birds of America. Vol. VI., p. 91) says, however, that this is 

 characteristic of the breeding season, and "disappears at the approach of autumn, when the 

 bird might with all propriety be named the White-crowned Heron." In view of the fact 

 that this beautiful yellow color is seldom if ever to be seen in dried skins, the term "yelloiv- 

 crowned" is a decided misnomer; and since it is thns calculated to mislead the student, wc 

 prefer the name "white-crowned." and have, on previous occasions, adopted the latter in 

 this work. In many skins the white of the forehead is tinged more or less with ochraoe- 

 ous, or cinnamon-brown; but this is without much doubt an actual stain caused by contact 

 with the slimy coating of leaves ul uiiuatic plaote^Jeriuifiuous mud, etc. 



