The Audubon Societies 



167 



THE BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON 



Home: Marshes and Creeks. Food: Frogs, eels, worms, fish, mice. 



Color . . . Black head hence name. 



Light below not easily seen by animals it seeks. 



Dark above not so easily seen from above. 



Red iris peculiar to some birds. 



Three white crown feathers . ornamentation at breeding-time. 



Beak . . . Large, lance-like killing prey. 



Sharp-edged to hold slippery food. 



Eyes . . , Well forward for quick sight. 



Large pupils to see at night. 



Neck . . . S-shaped to dart at food. 



Length of legs ........ to reach food. 



Drawn in when flying . . . better balanced. 



Legs . . . Long to keep body above the water. 



Most part unfeathered . . . not to get feathers wet. 



Straight back when flying . to steer. 



Toes . . . Long and wide spread ... to distribute weight. 



Slightly webbed to bear them up in soft mud. 



Back toe well developed . . useful in perching as well as for bal- 



Tail .... Short, weak feathers .... steers with legs. [ancing 



Wings . . . Long and broad ...... strong flight. 



C. Conclusion. The pupil should be led to make the general conclusion, from facts 

 gathered, that the Black-crowned Night Heron is a wading bird well adapted to its 

 home and habits of getting food. Later the pupil will begin to see that to a great extent 

 any bird is structurally adapted to its environment, that is to where it lives and what it 

 eats. These two topics namely, home and habits, should come first, therefore, in con- 

 sidering an animal. 



D. Comparison. The Black-crowned Night Heron has been used as a type of 

 Heron and of a larger group commonly known as wading birds. The pupil is now ready 

 to understand related forms and to search out differences and possibly, to give reasons 

 for variations. A visit to a museum, if convenient, may well be made or pictures of the 

 various forms studied used. Questions for observations should be given for this lesson 

 in the same manner as before. The following notes are subjoined for the benefit of the 

 teacher who may add to them as occasion demands. 



1. Plovers. Slender bill, to probe ground; wings long and acute; swallow-like flight; 

 hind toe small, scarcely touching ground; builds nest on ground; toes not webbed, 

 gathers food from upper part of beach in firm sand; each toe has lobes (water propellors), 

 yet is suited to running along the beach. 



2. Avocet. Long curved bill, to search out worms and snails in crevices and under 

 stones. 



3. Woodcock. Long bill, to thrust into mud for worms; end extremely sensitive, 

 for the purpose of feeling for food; eyes far back; tongue secretes a sticky substance to 

 help hold worms; brown-colored plumage; builds nest on ground in leaves. Wilson's 

 Snipe is a close relative of the Woodcock. 



4. Jacana has feet adapted for walking on floating lily-pads; spurs on wings used 

 for fighting; found in South America. 



