696 THE HERONS. 



morning and evening twilight, but it is also very frequently 

 abroad in full daylight. Its common, hoarse note — "gua," 

 has given it the name "Qua-bird," to the northward. 



Observers in the Southern States attest to the abundant 

 breeding of this species in large communities, their flat nests, 

 built of sticks, being placed in trees and bushes, anywhere 

 from near the ground to the tops of tall trees. In New 

 England, on the Hudson as far north as Saratoga, and in 

 corresponding latitudes, it breeds, in large communities, in 

 the same style as in the south; and it is now well known that 

 it tarries late, and may even winter in the middle districts. 



The eggs of this species, about four on an average, some 

 2.12X1.50, are oval or oblong-ovate, and of a clear, light 

 bluish-green color. The flattish nest, built of sticks, etc., 

 after the usual manner of Herons, is generally very filthy 

 after the young are out. 



Some 24.75 long and 44.60 in extent, the neck and legs 

 are not so long as those of the Herons proper; the bill is 

 thick at the base, compressed, tapering and very pointed, 

 and has the upper outline noticeably curved — this form of 

 the bill being peculiar to the Night Herons. The color of 

 the soft, blended plumage" is especially chaste and elegant. 

 The tufty crown and the smoothly-laid back are dark 

 glossy-green; forehead and anterior of the neck, white; 

 breast and abdomen, and the lower elongated feathers, 

 creamy-white; posterior of the neck, a beautiful gray drab, 

 tinged with lilac; wings and tail, gray drab; bill, black; 

 legs, and space around the eyes, yellow; the large eyes, 

 bright red; the several long, slender and elegant plumes 

 springing from the crown in the breeding season, pure 

 white. The young are striped and mottled with various 

 shades of brown and white, and require several years to 

 reach the colors of maturity. 



