42 ARDEA NYCTICORAX. 



cream, and under the \\ inirs with very palp ash ; back 

 and scapulars, of the same deep dark blue, ulu^ed \\ith 

 green, as that of the crown ; rinn|> and tail-coverts, as 

 well as the whole wings and tail, very pale a-h ; le^s 

 and feet, a pale yellow cream colour; inside of the 

 middle claw, serrated. 



The female differed in nothing as to plumage from 

 the male, but in the wings being of rather a deeper 

 ash, having not only the dark deep green blue crown 

 and back, but also the long pendent white plumes from 

 the hindhead. Each of the females contained a large 

 cluster of eggs of various sizes. 



The young bird was shot soon after it had left 

 the nest, and differed very little from those which had 

 been taken from the trees, except in being somewhat 

 larger. This measured twenty-one inches in length, 

 and three feet in extent; the general colour abov, a 

 very deep brown, streaked with reddish white, the spots 

 of white on the back and wings being triangular, from 

 the centre of the feather to the tip; quills, deep dusky, 

 marked on the tips with a spot of white; eye, vivid 

 orange; belly, white, streaked with dusky, the feathers 

 being pale dusky, streaked down their centres with 

 white ; lers and feet, light green ; inside of the middle 

 claw slightly pectinated ; body and winrs exceedingly 

 thin and limber; the down still stuck in slight tufts to 

 the tips of some of the feathers. 



These birds also breed in great numbers in the 

 neighbourhood of New Orleans ; for, beinjjf in that city 

 in the month of June, I frequently observed the Indians 

 sitting in market with the dead and living younir birds 

 for sale; also numbers of gray owls ('.s7/-/> m-bufosa,) 

 and the white ibis, (tantalus albus^) for which nice 

 dainties I observed they generally found purchaser-. 



The food of the ni^ht heron, or qua bird, is chiefly 

 composed of small tish, which it takes by night 

 Those that I opened had a lar<re expansion of the gullet 

 immediately under the bill, that narrowed from thence 

 to the stomach, which is a larire oblong pouch, and was 

 filled with fish. The teeth of the pectinated claw wen- 



