2 66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Nyctanassa violacea (Linnaeus) 



Yellow-crowned Night Heron 



Ardea violacea Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. lo. 1758. 1:143 



DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 228, fig. 199 

 Nycticorax violaceus A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 203 



nyctanas'sa, Gr. vv^, night, and, avao-o-a, queen; Lat. viola' cea, violet-colored 



Description. Bill very stout, much shorter than tarsus; general color 

 bluish plumbeous striped above with black; top of head and elongated patch 

 on its side white, rest of head black; bill black; lores greenish; eyes orange. 

 Young: Similar in color to the young of the preceding species, but the 



top of the head is blackish, 

 marked with buffy white, and 

 the quills slate color without ru- 

 fous markings. The general 

 color is somewhat darker. 



Length 22-27 inches; ex- 

 tent 44; wing 10. 5-1 2. 5; tail 5; 

 bill 2.5-3, depth at base .7-94; 

 tarsus 3.25-4; tibia bare 2; 

 middle toe and claw 2.75. 



The home of this species is 

 in tropical and austral America, 

 north to Illinois and North Caro- 

 lina, straggling northward as far 

 as Nova Scotia. It is one of the 

 rarest of herons in New York 

 State. Giraud and DeKay give 

 no definite records and evidently 

 took its occurrence for granted. 

 Charles Linden in the Buffalo 

 List, page 7, speaks of it in the 

 same indefinite terms. Mr Tru- 

 man R. Taylor of Rochester. 

 N. Y., writes that he examined 



Yellow-crowned niKat herun. Nyctanassa violacea ^ SPCCimCn killed SCVCral yCarS 



(Linnaeus). From specimen in State Museum. } nat. size " •'i^'^^ j 



