NTCTAXAS8A. 175 



pp. 285 '^ 301 " ; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 311 '^ ; Sumichr. La Nat. v, p. 233 ' ' ; 



Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 521 " ; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 379 '\ 

 Nyctanassa violacea, Stejn. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. x. p. 295^^; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 



xxvi. pp. 130 =% 274"; Salvad. & Festa, Boll. Mus. Torino, xiv. no. 339, p. 12" ; Bangs, 



Auk, 1901, p. 25 -'; Gates, Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus. ii. p. 12.2 ". 

 Ardea nycticorax, Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. Vog. p. 3^*; Cab. J. f. Orn. 1863, p. 59 (nee 



Linn.)^'. 



Supra clare scMstacea, notsei plumis longitudinaliter nigro striatis, medialiter nigris, marginibus schistaceis vel 

 clare canis ; teetricibus alanim nigricantibus, schistaceo marginatis ; remigibus nigricantibus, primariis 

 aflguste, secundariis latius schistaceo marginatis; reetricibus nigricantibus, schistaceo limbatis; pUeo summo 

 albo; nuchsB plumis elongatis, nigris, duabuslongioribusalbis ; pileo posticolateraU cum regione parotica,geni8, 

 mento et gula superiore, cum collo postico, nigris ; fascia lata subauriculari alba ; corpore subtus reliquo pulchre 

 schistaceo, abdomine imo et subcaudalibus albicantibus ; linea transversa gulari indistincte alba ; sub- 

 alaribus et axillaribus schistaceis concoloribus : rostro nigro, mandibulae basi viridescenti-flava ; loris et 

 area oculari nudis ■viridescenti-flavis ; pedibus sordide flavescenti-viridibus ; iride pallide aurantiaca. 

 Long, tota circa 20'0, alae 11-6, caudas 4-25, culm. 3'0, tarsi 3'9. (Descr. maris aduiti ex Nueces Co., 

 Texas. Mus. nostr.) 



$ ad. mari similis. Long, tota circa 20"0, alse 11"6. (Descr. feminse adultae ex Nueces Co. Mus. nostr.) 



Ptil. hiem. ptilosi sestivae similis, sed pileo albo rufescenti-brunneo lavato et plumis nuchalibus ornamentalibus 

 absentibus distinguenda. 



Juv. Cinerascenti-brunnea, notaei plumis medialiter albo lineatis, vel maculis triquetris albis d apice m 

 notatis ; teetricibus majoribus quoque albido marginatis ; remigibus rectricibusque cinereis, primariis et 

 secundariis intimis albo triquetrim terminatis ; pUeo nigricanti-brunneo, plumis anguste medialiter albo 

 lineatis ; regione parotica eodem mode notota ; gutture albo ; facie reliqua laterali et corpore subtus toto 

 albidis, plumis brunneo marginatis, unde gastraeum late striolatum ; subcaudalibus albis ; subalaribus 

 cinereis, albo triquetrim maculatis. (Descr. av. juv. ex Chiapam, Guat€mala. Mus. nostr.) 



ffah. Tkopical and Temperate North America, from the Carolinas, the lower Ohio 

 "Valley, and Lower California southward ^^. — Revillagigedo Is., Socorro I. 

 (Grayson ^^^^); Mexico {JDeppe & Schiede^^^% Mazatlan [Grayson ^^ Bischoff^^, 

 Ferrer ^^), Rio de Coahuayana [Xanttis i^), Tampico [Bichardson 2^, Sumichrast 1^), 

 Oaxaca, Cosamaloapam, Tehuantepec {Sumichrast ^^), Tres Marias Is. {Grayson ^^ 1^, 

 Nelson 1*), Laguua del Rosario, Tlaxcala, Santa Ana, Vera Cruz {Ferrari-Perez^), 

 Orizaba, Vera Cruz {SalW^), La Antigua [Trujillo^^), Cozumel 1. {Gaumer''^^); 

 Guatemala {Constancia ^^), Chiapam, Pacific coast {0. S. ^ ^^) ; Honduras {Dyson ^), 

 Ruatan I. {Gaumer"^) ; Nicaragua, San Juan del Sur, Pacific coast {Nutting ^^) ; 

 Costa Rica {E. Arce ^^), San Jose {v. Frantzius^, Cherrie ^'^), Las Trojas, Alajuela 

 {Zeledon 1°); Panama {Kellett & Wood ^% Rio Lara, Punta de Sabana {Festa ^% San 

 Miguel in the Pearl Is. {Brown ^). — South America generally to Southern Brazil ^3 ; 

 Greater and Lesser Antilles ^3. 



This species is easily recognizable by its somewhat thick bill, which is much stouter 

 than that of any of the typical American Herons. It has the appearance of an ordinary 

 Nycticorax, but is easily distinguished by its white or yellowish-buff crown and by the 

 tuft of ornamental feathers on the nape instead of the long white plumes, two to four 

 in number, which adorn the true Night-Herons during the nesting-season. The dorsal 



