AEDEID^E. CXL. 239 



735. A. tricolor Miiller. LOUISIANA HERON. Variegated ; 

 leaden blue, chestnut and white. L. 27. W. 10. B. 4. Ts. 4. 

 Tropical, N. to Ind. The U. S. bird is var. ruficollis (Gosse). 



ff. Scapular plumes not very long, soft, with compact webs ; wing not 

 more than 8. (Butorides Blyth.) 



736. A. virescens (L.) GREEN HERON. Crown, back and 

 wings lustrous dark green ; neck purplish cinnamon ; throat and 

 fore-neck striped with whitish; young similar. L. 18. W. 7. 

 B. 2. Ts. 2. Amer., abundant ; N. to Ont. (Lat., greenish.) 



375. NYCTICORAX Stephens. NIGHT HERONS. (Vi5, night ; 



*6pa, raven.) 

 a. Bill about as long as tarsus ; gonys nearly straight (Nycticorax.) 



737. N. nycticorax (L.). BLACK CROWNED NIGHT-HERON. 

 QUA BIRD. SQUAWK. Bluish gray, crown, back and shoulders 

 glossy green ; lower parts mostly white ; no peculiar feathers save 

 two or three long, white occipital plumes ; young grayish brown, 

 speckled and streaked with whitish, very different. L. 24. W. 14. 

 B. 3. Ts. 3. T. 5. U. S., frequent. The American bird is var. 

 nsevius (Boddaert). (Eu.) 



aa. Bill much shorter than tarsus; gonys convex. (Nyctanassa Stejneger.) 



738. N. violaceus (L.). YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. 

 Grayish plumbeous, darker on back and streaked with black ; head 

 mostly black, the crown and crest tawny white ; a white streak be- 

 hind eye ; back with long plumes ; young grayish brown, streaked 

 and spotted with brown. L. 24. W. 12. T. 5. B. 2|. Ts. 3|. 

 S. U. S., scarce; N. to N. Y. 



ORDER XXXVII. PALUDICOLJE. (THE CRANES AND 

 RAILS.) 



This small order includes the allies of the Cranes and Rails, 

 wading birds with schizognathous palate, allied to the Limicolce, 

 but with the head rather compressed than globose, the bill hard 

 and not sensitive, not adapted for probing in the mud, and the 

 hind toe little elevated. Precocial. Birds of moderate or large 

 size, skulking about in the reeds and rushes, and feeding upon 

 substances found on the surface. The position and boundaries of 

 this group have been unsettled. It seems nearly related to the 

 Limicolce. (Lat , palus, swamp ; colo, I inhabit.) 



Families of Paludicolse. 



a. Nasal bones schizorhinal ; head partly unfeathered or else with ornamental 

 plumes ; hind toe short, much elevated. Very large. Cranes. 



GRUHXE, 141. 



aa. Nasal bones holorhinal ; head feathered, except sometimes a frontal 

 shield; hind toe rather long, little elevated; size moderate or small. 

 Rails RALLID^S, 142. 



