136 HERONS AND BITTERNS. 



color of their legs and feet serves as a distinguishing character at some 

 distance. They are silent when feeding, but when undisturbed in their 

 rookeries each bird seems to have something to say, and the result is a 

 strange chorus . of croalfing voices. They feed by day, and generally 

 wait lor their prey to come within striliing distance. 



201> Ardea virescens Linn. Little Green Heeon; Poke (see 

 Fig. 19). Ad. — Crown and a short line below the eye glossy greenish black ; 

 throat buffy white, this color extending down the foreneck as a narrow line 

 mi.xed with blackish, widening on the breast ; rest of the head and neck 

 rufous-ehestnut glossed with vinaceous ; back, witli lengthened interscapulai-s, 

 green, more or less washed with bluish gray ; wing-coverts green, margined 

 with white or bufi'y ; belly ashy gray, more or less washed with buffy. Im. — 

 Similar, but with the neck and under parts streaked with blackish ; back 

 without lengthened feathers or wash of blue-gray ; wing-eoverts widely mar- 

 gined with buffy ochraceous. L., 17-00 ; W., 7-25 ; Tar., 1-90 ; B., 2-50. 



Jiange. — Ti'opical and temperate America; breeds as far north as Mani- 

 toba, Ontario, and the Bay of Fundy ; wintera from Florida southward. 



Washington, very common S. K., Apl. 15 to Sept. Long Island, common 

 S. R., Apl. to Oct. Sing Sing, common S. K., Apl. 6 to Sept. 26. Cambridge, 

 common S. K., May 5 to Sept. 



i\^si, a platform of sticks in a bush or low branch of a tree. J^gg^ three 

 to six, pale, dull blue, 1-50 x 1-14. 



The shores of wooded streams or ponds are frequented by this small 

 Heron in preference to more exposed situations. It is-most active in 

 the early morning or at nightfall, and during the day rests quietly in 

 some sheltered situation. When startled, it springs into the air with a 

 frightened squawk, and, alighting at a safe distance on a tree or on 

 some elevated perch, with upstretched neck watches the intruder, be- 

 traying its apprehension by nervous twitchings of the tail. It is a 

 solitary bird, and, unlike most Herons, is never found in flocks. 



202. Nycticorax nycticorax nsevius {Bodd.).^ Black-okowned 

 Night Heeon ; Quawk. Ad. — Forehead, lores, neck, and imder parts white 

 or whitish ; crown, upper back, and scapulars glossy, greenish black ; lowfer 

 back, wings, and tail ashy gray ; legs and feet yellow ; lores greenish ; two or 

 three white rounded occipital plumes about 8'00 in length. Im. — Upper parts 

 grayish brown, the feathers streaked or with wedge-shaped spots of white or 

 buffy ; outer web of primai'ies pale rufous ; under parts white, streaked with 

 blackish. L., 24-00 ; "W., 12-00 ; Tar., 3-20 ; B., 3-00. 



Range. — Breeds from Manitoba and New Brunswick southward through 

 South America; winters from the Gulf States southward. 



Washington, not uncommon S. E., occasional in winter. Long Island, 

 common S. K., Apl. to Oct., a few winter. Sing Sing, common S. R., Apl. 6 

 to Oct. 20. Cambridge, P. R., most common in Aug. and Sept. 



Nest, of sticks, in colonics, generally in the upper parts of tall trees, some- 

 times in bushes or on the ground. Eggs, four to six, pale, dull blue, 2-00 x 1-40. 



