YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON 



Young. Light brown above, each feather 

 with a median white stripe, outer webs of outer 

 wing quills pale rufous, tail ash gray, sides of head 

 and neck and under parts striped with grayish 

 brown and white; throat white. 



A common species inland and along the sea 

 coasts, recognizable by its rather short legs, 

 stout bill and thick neck. Stone designates it 

 as a migrant. It commonly roosts in trees, 

 often far from water by day, flying to marshes 

 and mud flats to feed in the evening. It has a 

 single, rather hoarse note like the syllable 

 quark, which is often heard after dark as the 

 birds fly over in a straggling flock, one bird- 

 answering another after a deliberate interval. 



9. Nyctanassa violacea (Linnaeus) 

 Yellow-crowned Night Heron 



Length about 610 mm. (24.00 in.) ; tail about 

 115 mm. (4.50 in.). 



Sexes alike. Adults. Slaty bluish gray above 

 and below, streaked with black on the back; top 

 of head and elongated patch on side of head 

 white or yellowish, separated by a black stripe; 

 rest of head and throat black. Legs greenish. 



Young. Crown black streaked with buffy 

 white; rest of upper parts dark grayish brown 

 with wedge-shaped buffy spots, wing quills 

 slate color ; under parts brownish white, streaked 

 with dusky. 



Legs rather short, neck slenderer than in 

 N. nycticorax ncevius. 



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