i,^ 



:l ■ i» 



60 



ALTRICIAL (IIIALLATOKKS — IIKRODKINES. 



loud guttural croak always detorriuf,' tlu'ni from couiiuj,' too near. He was not afraid 

 of the family; and tliou^li !»' did not like to Itc liandk'd, woidd never run away 

 to avoid it, but would come at call, even from a distunee, evincini; disapiKjintinent 

 when no food was given him. The following illustrates his tenacity to first imjuvs- 

 sions. He was once caught wandering ott" to a neighlM)ring spring for frogs, and 

 driven back to the barnyard. In his jiatii was a cart — an obstacle which it was 

 necessary to go round — wliile iM-yond it was a pile of rubbish, over which he lialf 

 flew. Tliis was repeated three or four tinu's. Afterward, the cart and tiu' rubl)isli 

 having been removed, the bird, wlu'u driven home from his wanderings, jwrsisted in 

 making a «'ircuit around the spot where tlie <'art had formerly stooil. and in giving a 

 flying leaj) over the place where once the pile had previously nuule this necessary. 

 This amusing perfornuuice he would always go through with, and he was occasionally 

 made to repeat it for the entertainnuMit of visitors. Once in a while lie wotdd stray 

 off into Stony Brook, at a i»oint where it flowed past several houses, and would tisii 

 for himself. On ime occasion, his hoarse gurgling cries created an alarm in th<' 

 settlement, and the river was searched at midnight for the supposed drowning iiuli- 

 vidual ; and our \)vt was in .some danger of its own life before the real cause of the 

 alarm had been ascertained. It readily endured tiie cold of one winter ; but an 

 unusually severe night in the second winter killed the bird before it had assumed 

 its nuiture plumage. 



Three eggs of this species, taken by Mr. Harold Ilerrick in a heronry at Chettam. 

 N. J., are abnost exactly oval in shape, equally tapering at either end, and uni- 

 formly washed with a bright, light greenish blue — a light wash of Trussian blue 

 with green slia<lings. These three eggs measure, respectively. 'J.IV2 1)}' Uhi inches ; 

 2.10 by 1.48 inches; and 2.(M> inches by 1.44, — showing a remarkable variation in 

 size. These were taken May iiO, 187.3. 



GENU.S NYCTHERODIXTS, Keh iiExn.vrH. 



Nydherodim, RF.iciiKsn. Uttiulb. Oni. (Naturl. Syst. Viig. in Systoinn Avium), 1851, \t. xvi. (tyjio, 



Ai'dca vinhweii, LiSN.). 

 Nycficorax, Boik (jmrt), Isis, 1826, l»70 (tyix-, Ardea violacni, Linn.). 



Gen. Char. Medium-.^ized Herons, of short, thick Iniilil ; the bill extremely thick and stout, 

 with both outlines strongly convex ; tlie legs long and slender ; the doi-sal plumes nmdi elongr.ted 

 and very narrow, reaching beyond the tail ; the occiput (in adult) witli several extremely long, 

 linear white feathers. Habits nocturnal. 



Bill short and very stout, the culnien curved ivgulnrly from the base, the gonys deciiledly con- 

 vex and very much ascending ;i maxillary toiuium almost perfectly straiglit througliout, but 

 appreciably concave anteriorly, witli a barely percept ilde convexity toward the base; mandibular 

 toniium nearly straiglu, but i)erceptibly concave anteriorly .'•' Mental apex less tlian half way from 

 centre of ej-e to end of bill, and about even with anterior end of nostril ; apex of malar region a 

 little posterior to the frontal apex. Tarsi long and slender, exceeding the middle toe by more than 



• The lower outline of the hill is, in fnct, more deeidedly convex than the ujuhm'. 



* We find considerable vnrintion anions individuals in respect to these outlines: thus, a sjiocimcn (? 

 adult, No. 2750, Mas. I{.1{.) IVoin Illinois has the nmiidibulnr toniiuni exactly straight to near the end, 

 where it gradually ascends to the tip, thereby iiroduciiig a very slight subtenuinal concavity ; in Xo. 2758, 

 another adult ? from the same locality, it is decidedly coHir.»; in the middle portioc ; while in an adult 

 i, from Miizatlnn (No. 58811), it is decidedly concarr at the same |dace, —so much so, in fact, that a 

 space is left between it and the \ipper toniium, on ciich side, when the bill is closed tight ! These dis- 

 crepancies, however, do not affect the general fonn of the bill, which is eininentlv characteristic. 



