( 276 ) 



THE NIGHT HERON. 



Ardea Nycticorax, Linn. 



PLATE CCXXXVI. Adult Male and Young. 



The Night Heron is a constant resident in the Southern States, where 

 it is found in abundance in the low swampy tracts near the coast, from 

 the mouth of Sabine River to the eastern boundaries of South Carolina. 

 On the whole of that vast extent of country, it may be procured at all 

 seasons. The adult birds keep farther south than the young, flocks of 

 the latter remaining in South Carolina during the whole winter, and there 

 the Night Herons are at that period more common than most other species 

 of the family. In that State it is named " the Indian PuUet,'" in Lower 

 Louisiana the Creoles call it " Gros-bec^'' the inhabitants of East Florida 

 know it under the name of " Indian Hen," and in our Eastern States its 

 usual appellation is " Qua Bird." 



In the course of my winter rambles through East Florida, I met with 

 several of the large places of resort of Night Herons, and, in particular, 

 one remarkable for the vast number of birds congregated there. It is 

 about six miles below the plantation of my friend Johx Bullow, Esq., 

 on a bayou which opens into the Halifax River. There several hundred 

 pairs appeared to be already mated, although it was only the month of 

 January ; many of the nests of former years were still standing, and all 

 appeared to live in peace and contentment. My friend John Bachman 

 is acquainted with a place on Ashley River, about four miles distant from 

 Charleston, where, among the branches of a cluster of live-oak trees, he 

 has for the last fifteen years found a flock of about fifty of these birds 

 during the winter. They were all young, not a single individual hav- 

 ing been observed in the adult plumage, which is the more remarkable, 

 because it is usual for young birds to retreat farther south during winter 



I than the old. It is very common at this period for the sportsmen near 

 Charleston to take their stand along the margins of the salt-water ponds, 

 to which the Herons generally resort about dusk ; and they frequently 

 obtain several shots in an evening, but not a single old bird is known to 

 have been killed at this season. 

 The Night Heron seldom advances very far into the country, but re- 



