314 YELLOW-CROWNED HERON. 



with a warty skin thinly interspersed with blacJc hairs ; these become 

 more thickly set towards the base of the bill ; the hind head is of an 

 ash color ; the rest of the plumage pure white, the primaries excepted, 

 which are black ; from the root of each wing rise numerous large flow- 

 ing feathers projecting over the tail and tips of the wings ; the upper- 

 most of these are broad, drooping, and pointed at the extremities, some 

 of them are also loosely webbed, their silky fibres curling inwards like 

 those of the Ostrich. They seem to occupy the place of the tertials. 

 The legs and naked parts of the thigh are black, very thick and strong ; 

 the hind toe seems rarely or never to reach the hard ground, though it 

 may probably assist in preventing the bird from sinking too deep in the 

 mire. 



Species II. ARDEA VIOLACEA. 



YELLOW-CROWNED HEEON. 



[Plate LXV, Fig. 1.] 



Linn. Syst. i., p. 238, 16. — Lath. Syn. in., p. 80. — Le Crahier de Bahama, Beiss. 

 v., 481, 4L — Crested Bittern, Okies, i., pL 79. — Le Crahier gris de fer, Bvft. 

 TIL, p. 399.—Arct. Zool. No. 352.* 



This is one of the nocturnal species of the Heron tribe, whose man- 

 ners, place and mode of building its nest, resemble greatly those of the 

 common Night Heron [Ardea nycticorax) ; the form of its bill is also 

 similar. The very imperfect figure and description of this species by 

 Gatesby, seems to have led the greater part of European ornithologists 

 astray, who appear to have copied their accounts from that erroneous 

 source, otherwise it is difficult to conceive why they should either have 

 given it the name of yellow-crowned, or have described it as being only 

 fifteen inches in length ; since the crown of the perfect bird is pure 

 white, and the whole length very near two feet. The name however, 

 erroneous as it is, has been retained in the present account, for the pur- 

 pose of more particularly pointing out its absurdity, and designating 

 the species. 



This bird inhabits the lower parts of South Carolina, Georgia, and 

 Louisiana, in the summer season ; reposing during the day among low 



* We add the following synonymes : — Ardea violacea. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 690, 

 No. bO.— Ardea Cayenensis, Id. p. 680, No. 17.— Gen. Syn. iii., p. 80, No. 46.— 

 Cayenne Night Heron, Id. p. 56, No. 16. — Bihoreau de Cayenne, PI. Enl. 899.— 

 Ardea violacea, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 631, No. 16. — Ardea Cayenensis, Id. p. 626, No 

 3L 



