130 HISTORY OF THE 



branches a loose, flat structure of sticks. Eggs usually four; 

 2.00x1.50; pale greenish blue; in form, oval to elliptical oval. 



SUBGENUS NYCTHERODIUS EEICHENBACII. 



Culmen much shorter than tarsus (only a little longer than middle toe); 

 gouys convex, and lateral outlines of bill straight, or sometimes perceptibly con- 

 vex; tarsus much longer than middle toe; scapulars lengthened, narrow (but 

 not pointed), somewhat loosely webbed. (Ridgway.) 



Nycticorax violaceous (LINX.). 



YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. 

 PLATE IX. 



Summer resident; rare. Arrive the first to middle of April; 

 begin laying about the middle of May. 



B. 496. R. 496. C. 665. G. 230, 59. U. 203. 



HABITAT. The whole of tropical and subtropical America, 

 including the West Indies; breeding regularly north into Kan- 

 sas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina; and wander 

 casually to Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Colorado. (I can 

 find no mention of these birds in California, but as they are 

 found along the Pacific coast, as well as eastward in Central 

 America and Mexico, I am inclined to think they may have 

 been overlooked, or at least that they will be occasionally found 

 along the Colorado River, in the vicinity of Fort Yuma.) 



SP. CHAR. "Adult: Forehead, middle of crown and long occipital plumes, 

 with a large longitudinal patch from the rictus to the ears, pure white; rest of 

 the head deep black. Plumage in general, clear plumbeous blue, or cinereous, 

 lighter beneath ( the degree of blueness probably depending on the age of the 

 bird); all the feathers of the upper surface marked with a medial stripe of 

 black; the secondaries and rectrices dark plumbeous, bordered with a lighter 

 shade of the same; primaries plain bluish plumbeous. Bill deep black, the 

 lower basal portion of the mandible, in some specimens, greenish yellow; lores 

 and eyelids greenish yellow; iris pale orange; legs dull yellowish green; the 

 large scutellse and the claws dusky. Young: Above, dark sooty grayish brown, 

 sometimes of a slightly olive cast, the feathers of the pileum and wings (in 

 youngest individuals the entire upper surface?) marked with medial streaks of 

 white or pale buff, these streaks assuming on the wing coverts a narrow cuneate 

 form. Lower parts soiled whitish, striped with brownish gray. Bill greenish 

 black, the lower and basal part of the lower mandible greenish yellow, as are 

 the eyelids and bare space before the eye. Iris pale orange. Legs and feet 

 dull yellowish green, the scutellse and scales in front, as well as the claws, 

 dusky." 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 24.00 44.00 12.25 4.75 3.80 2.90 



Female.. 22.00 42.00 11.75 4.30 3.60 2.50 



