106 BIKDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



this family. So far as known, it does not breed in central or western Carolina, but 

 after the nesting season wanders to all parts of the State. It is largely a nocturnal 

 species, and prefers to pass the daytime dozing among the foliage of thickly leaved 

 trees. In Carteret County it is eaten by some of the inhabitants along Core Sound, 

 but its flesh can hardly be considered a choice food. There has been for several 

 years a large colony on Harker's Island a few miles from Beaufort, and Pearson has 

 found colonies in Onslow and Brunswick counties. 



Genus Nyctanassa (Stejn.) 

 86. Nyctanassa violacea (Linn.). YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. 



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

 black; the crown and chest tawny white, a white streak behind eye; young grayish brown, 

 streaked and spotted, known by the structural characters. L., 22.00 to 28.00; W., 10.50 to 

 12.50. 



Range. In summer from North Carolina to Brazil; winters from Florida southward. 



Range in North Carolina. -Coastal region in summer, and occasional inland; rare. 



Rare and retiring in its habits, the Yellow-crowned Night Heron has been seldom 

 seen by ornithologists in North Carolina. Atkinson mentions one taken at Beaufort 

 in 1887. An adult was exhibited at the Fish and Oyster Fair in New Bern in 1892, 

 and an immature mounted specimen was shown there in 1893. C. S. Brimley shot 

 an immature female at Raleigh, June 25, 1894, and an immature male July 14, 

 1894. On June 13, 1894, Pearson secured an immature bird near Guilford College 

 in Guilford County, and the mounted specimen is in the museum at that institution. 

 One was killed by Owen Primrose in Johnston County, May 13, 1898, and sent to 

 the State Museum. It was an adult. In May, 1909, H. H. Brimley and Pearson 

 observed at close range an adult on Dutchman's Creek, which runs through a salt- 

 marsh a few miles from Southport in Brunswick County. Three adults were seen 

 by C. S. Brimley in marshes bordering on Walnut Creek near Raleigh, April 14, 

 1911. We do not know that the birds breed in the State, but it is highly probable 

 that they do. Pearson has found them nesting on several occasions in Florida, and 

 says that in every instance the colonies contained about ten or fifteen pairs, and 

 no other herons were found associated with them. 



VII. ORDER PALUDICOLfll. THE MARSH-BIRDS. 



This order includes cranes, rails, and allied forms. They are birds of moderate 

 or large size, and usually dwell in marshes or wet meadows. 



The Sandhill Crane, Grus mexicana (Mull.) belonging to the family Gruidce, is 

 a large bird with long legs and neck, resembling a heron to that extent. In the adult 

 the top of the head is covered with rough, dull-reddish skin, thinly sprinkled with 

 short "hairs." We have no positive record of the appearance of the bird in the 

 State. It is known to breed in Florida, Georgia, and westward and northward 

 through the Mississippi Valley to Manitoba. In various trips through Brunswick 

 County, Pearson has been told repeatedly of a large bird which frequents the open 

 pond-dotted pine-woods, and known as the "Savannah Crane." In company with 



